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CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS. 


FAMOUS 

Voyagers  and  Explorers 


BY 

SARAH    KNOWLES    BOLTON 

AUTHOR    OF    "  POOR    BOYS    WHO    BECAME    FAMOUS,"  "  GIRLS  WHO  BECAME  FAMOUS, 

"FAMOUS      AMERICAN      AUTHORS,"      "FAMOUS      AMERICAN      STATESMEN," 

"  FAMOUS      MEN      OF      SCIENCE,"      "  FAMOUS      EUROPEAN      ARTISTS," 

"FAMOUS     TYPES    OF    WOMANHOOD,"    "STORIES    FROM    LIFE," 

"FROM     HEART     AND     NATURE"     (POEMS),     "FAMOUS 

ENGLISH    AUTHORS,"     "  FAMOUS    ENGLISH 

STATESMEN,"    ETC.,    ETC. 


NEW  YORK :    46  East  i4th   Street. 

THOMAS    Y.    CROWELL    &    CO. 

BOSTON:    100  Purchase  Street. 


Copy  right,  1893, 

BY 

Thomas  Y.  Crow  ell  &  Co. 


C.  J    PETERS  &  SON, 
TYrE-SETTEKS   AND  EJ.ECTROTYTEB8, 

i4o  High  stbeet,  boston. 


GLi  TJ3 

64 


TO 

C.    E.    BOLTON, 

MY  HUSBAND, 

I  Dedicate  this  Book. 


PREFACE 


In  this  volume,  for  the  most  part,  those  explorers 
have  been,  chosen  whose  labors  have  been  connected  with 
North  America.  Columbus  naturally  comes  first.  Mar- 
co Polo's  book  doubtless  influenced  Columbus  in  his 
search  for  the  route  to  India  and  Cathay.  Magellan 
was  the  first  to  circumnavigate  the  globe.  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  believing  in  the  future  of  America,  tried  in 
vain  to  establish  an  English  colony  in  the  new  world. 
Sir  John  Franklin,  with  many  hardships,  closed  his 
pathetic  and  noble  life  in  exploring  our  northern  lati- 
tudes. The  search  for  the  North  Pole  has  all  the 
interest  of  a  romance  in  the  experience  of  Kane, 
Hall,  Greely,  Lockwood,  and  others.  David  Livingstone 
reveals  much  of  Africa,  and  furnishes  an  example  of 
true  manhood  and  heroic  purpose.  Perry  opened  Japan 
to  the  world.  Suffering  and  privation  were  the  lot  of 
most  of  these  men,  but  by  their  courage  and  persever- 
ance they  overcame  great  difficulties  and  accomplished 
important  results  for  the  benefit  of  mankind. 

S.    K.    B. 
V 


44731? 


TABLE   OF    CONTENTS. 


PAG", 

Christopher  Columbus ,  1 

Marco  Polo 73 

Ferdinand  Magellan  ., 120 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh 154 

Sir  John  Franklin,  Dr.  Kane,  C.  F.  Hall,  and  others  235 

David  Livingstone 330 

Matthew  Calbraith  Perry 412 

General  A.  W.  Greely  and  other  Arctic  Explorers,  442 


VII 


CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS. 


MORE  than  four  hundred  years  ago1  was  born  in 
Genoa,  Italy,  a  boy  who  was  destined  to  become 
famous  the  world  over.  Monuments  to  his  memory 
are  in  very  many  of  the  great  cities.  Scores  of  books 
have  been  written  about  him,  and  now  in  1893  the 
country  which  he  discovered  is  doing  him  honor  by  the 
greatest  exposition  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

Dominico  Colombo,  a  Avool-comber,  and  his  wife 
Susannah  Fontanarossa,  the  daughter  of  a  wool- weaver, 
lived  in  a  simple  home  in  Genoa.  They  had  five  chil- 
dren, —  Christoforo  ;  Giovanni,  who  died  young  ;  Barto- 
lomeo,  called  later  Bartholomew,  who  never  married ; 
Giacomo,  called  in  Spain,  Diego;  and  one  sister,  Bian- 
ehinetta,  who  married  a  cheesemonger,  Bavarello,  and 
had  one  child. 

Susannah,  the  mother,  appears  to  have  had  a  little  prop- 
erty, but  Dominico  was  always  unsuccessful,  and  died 
poor  and  in  debt,  his  sons  in  his  later  years  sending 
him  as  much  money  as  they  were  able  to  spare. 

l  Authors  difl'er  as  to  the  year  in  which  Christopher  was  born.  Wash- 
Ington  [rving,  in  his  delightful  life  of  Columbus,  thinks  about  the  year  1435, 
and  John  Fiske,  in  his  "  Discovery  of  America,"  and  several  other  historians, 
agree  with  him;  while  Justin  Winsor,  in  his  life  of  Columbus,  thinks  with 
Harrisse,  Mufioz,  and  others  that  he  was  probably  born  between  March  15, 
1446,  and  March  20,  1417.  Emilio  Castelar  in  the  Century  for  May-October, 
1892,  puts  the  date  of  birth  at  1433  or  1434. 

1 


2  CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS. 

The  weavers  had  schools  of  their  own  in  Genoa ;  and 
the  young  Christopher  learned  at  these  the  ordinary 
branches,  —  reading,  writing,  grammar,  and  arithmetic, 
with  something  of  Latin  and  drawing.  He  seems  to  have 
been  at  the  University  of  Pavia  for  a  short  time,  where 
he  studied  geometry,  geography,  astronomy,  and  naviga- 
tion, returning  to  his  father's  house  to  help  the  family 
by  wool-combing. 

The  boy  was  eager  for  the  sea,  and  at  fourteen  started 
out  upon  his  life  of  adventure  on  the  Mediterranean, 
under  a  distant  relative  named  Colombo.  His  first 
voyage  of  which  we  have  an  account,  was  in  a  naval 
expedition  fitted  out  in  1459  by  John  of  Anjou,  with 
the  aid  of  Genoa,  against  Naples,  to  recover  it  for  his 
father,  Duke  Rene,  Count  of  Provence. 

This  warfare  lasted  four  years,  and  Avas  unsuccessful. 
Nearly  forty  years  later  Columbus  wrote  concerning 
this  struggle  to  the  Spanish  monarchs :  "  King  Rene 
(whom  God  has  taken  to  himself)  sent  me  to  Tunis 
to  capture  the  galley  Fernandina.  Arriving  at  the 
island  of  San  Pedro  in  Sardinia,  I  learned  that  there 
were  two  ships  and  a  Caracca  with  the  galley,  which  so 
alarmed  the  crew  that  they  resolved  to  proceed  no  far- 
ther, but  to  go  to  Marseilles  for  another  vessel  and  a 
larger  crew,  before  which,  being  unable  to  force  their 
inclinations,  I  apparently  yielded  to  their  wish,  and, 
having  first  changed  the  points  of  the  compass,  spread 
all  sail  (for  it  was  evening),  and  at  daybreak  we  were 
within  the  Cape  of  Carthagena,  when  all  believed  for 
a  certainty  that  we  were  nearing  Marseilles." 

If  Columbus  was  born  in  1435,  he  was  at  this  time 
twenty-four  ;  a  young  man  to  be  intrusted  with  such  an 
enterprise. 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS.  3 

These  early  years  must  have  been  full  of  clanger  and 
hardship.  Piracy  on  the  seas  was  common,  and  battles 
between  the  Italian  republics  almost  constant.  The 
young  man  learned  to  be  fearless,  to  govern  sailors  well, 
and  was  full  of  the  spirit  of  the  age, — that  of  explo- 
ration and  conquest. 

Like  most  other  men  who  have  come  to  renown, 
Columbus  was  an  ardent  seeker  after  knowledge.  He 
read  everything  obtainable  about  navigation,  astronomy, 
and  the  discoveries  which  had  been  made  at  that  time. 

Portugal  was  showing  herself  foremost  in  all  mari- 
time enterprises.  This  activity  has  been  attributed, 
says  Irving,  to  a  romantic  incident  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  in  the  discovery  of  the  Madeira  Islands. 

In  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  of  England  (1327-1378) 
Robert  Machin 1  fell  in  love  with  a  beautiful  girl  named 
Anne  Dorset.  She  was  of  a  proud  family,  which  refused 
to  allow  her  to  marry  Machin,  who  was  arrested  by 
order  of  the  king,  and  she  was  obliged  to  marry  a  noble- 
man, who  took  her  to  his  estate  near  Bristol. 

Machin  and  his  friends  determined  to  rescue  her 
from  her  hated  wifehood.  One  of  his  companions  be- 
came a  groom  in  the  nobleman's  household,  ascertained 
that  she  still  loved  Robert,  and  planned  with  her  an 
escape  with  him  to  France. 

Hiding  out  one  day  with  the  pretended  groom,  she  was 
taken  to  a  boat,  and  conveyed  to  a  vessel,  in  which  the 
lovers  put  out  to  sea.  They  sailed  along  the  coast  past 
Cornwall,  when  a  storm  arose,  and  they  were  driven  out 
of  sight  of  land. 

For  thirteen  days  they  were  tossed  about  on  the  ocean, 

1  Enc.  P»rit.  says  "Machim;"  Winsor  and  Fiske  and  Major,  '•.Machin;" 
Irving,  "  Macham." 


4  CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS. 

and  on  the  morning  of  the  fourteenth  day  they  came 
upon  a  beautiful  island.  The  young  wife,  overcome  by 
fear  and  remorse,  had  already  become  alarmingly  ill. 
Machin  carried  her  to  the  island,  where  lie  constructed 
a  bower  for  her  under  a  great  tree,  and  brought  her 
fruits  and  flowers. 

The  crew  stayed  on  the  vessel  to  guard  it  till  the 
party  should  return.  A  severe  storm  came  up,  and  the 
ship  was  driven  off  the  coast  and  disappeared.  Anne 
now  reproached  herself  as  being  the  cause  of  all  this 
disaster ;  for  three  days  she  was  speechless,  dying  with- 
out uttering  a  word. 

Machin  was  prostrated  with  grief  and  distress,  that  he 
had  brought  her  to  a  lonely  island,  away  from  home  and 
friends,  to  die.  He  died  five  days  later,  and  at  his  own 
request  was  buried  by  her  side  at  the  foot  of  a  rustic 
altar  which  he  had  erected  under  the  great  tree. 

His  companions  repaired  the  boat  in  which  they  had 
come  to  shore,  and  started  upon  the  great  ocean,  hoping, 
almost  in  vain,  to  reach  England.  They  were  tossed 
about  by  the  winds,  and  finally  dashed  upon  the  rocks 
on  the  coast  of  Morocco,  where  they  were  put  in  prison 
by  the  Moors.  Here  they  learned  that  their  ship  had 
shared  the  same  fate. 

The  English  prisoners  met  in  prison  an  experienced 
pilot,  Juan  de  Morales,  a  Spaniard  of  Seville.  He 
listened  with  the  greatest  interest  to  their  story,  and 
on  his  release  communicated  the  circumstances  to  Prince 
Henry  of  Portugal. 

This  prince  was  the  son  of  John  the  First,  surnamed 
the  Avenger,  and  Philippa  of  Lancaster,  sister  of  Henry 
IV.  of  England.  After  Prince  Henry  had  helped  his 
father  in  1415  to  conquer  Ceuta   opposite  the  rock  of 


CIIUISTOPUER   COLUMBUS.  5 

Gibraltar,  and  to  drive  the  Moors  into  the  mountains,  he 
determined  to  give  up  war  and  devote  himself  to  discov- 
ery, even  though  on  account  of  his  bravery  he  was  asked 
by  the  Pope,  Henry  V.  of  England,  John  II.  of  Castile, 
and  the  Emperor  Sigismund,  to  lead  their  armies. 

He  made  his  home  on  the  lonely  promontory  of  Sagres, 
in  the  south-western  part  of  Portugal,  built  an  astronom- 
ical observatory,  invited  to  his  home  the  most  learned 
men  of  the  time  in  naval  matters,  and  lived  the  life  of 
a  scholar.  He  spent  all  his  fortune,  and  indeed  became 
involved  in  debt,  in  fitting  out  expeditions  to  the  coast 
of  Africa,  hoping  to  find  a  southern  passage  to  the 
wealth  of  the  Indies,  and  to  convert  the  barbarians  to 
Christianity.  His  motto  was,  "Talent  de  bien  faire  " 
(Desire  to  do  well,  or  the  talent  to  do  well). 

Prince  Henry's  first  success  was  the  rediscovery  of 
.Madeira  in  1418,  where  Eobert  Machin  and  Anne  were 
buried  over  seventy  years  before.  The  island  of  Porto 
Santo,  near  Madeira,  of  which  we  shall  hear  more 
by  and  by,  was  discovered  about  this  time  by  Bartho- 
lomew Perestrelo,  who  placed  a  rabbit  with  her  little  ones 
on  the  island.  Years  afterward  these  had  so  multiplied 
that  they  had  devoured  nearly  every  green  thing  on  the 
island ;  so  much  so,  says  Mr.  Fiske,  that  Prince  Henry's 
enemies,  angered  that  he  spent  so  much  money  in  expe- 
ditions, declared  that  "God  had  evidently  created  those 
islands  for  beasts  alone,  not  for  men  !  " 

Through  the  enterprise  of  Prince  Henry,  Cape  Boja- 
dor,  on  the  western  coast  of  Africa,  was  doubled  in  1 434 
by  Gil  Eannes.  Heretofore  it  had  been  believed  that 
if  anybody  ventured  so  near  the  torrid  zone,  he  would 
never  come  back  alive,  on  account  of  the  dreadful  heat 
and  boisterous  waves  at  that  point. 


6  CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS. 

The  coast  was  soon  explored  from  Cape  Blanco  to  Cape 
Verde.  In  1460  Diego  Gomez  discovered  the  Cape  Verde 
Islands,  and  two  years  later  Piedro  de  Cintra  reached 
Sierra  Leone.  In  1484  Diego  Cam  went  as  far  as  the 
mouth  of  the  Congo,  and  the  following  year  a  thousand 
miles  farther ;  and  while  the  Portuguese  took  back  hun- 
dreds of  negro  slaves  to  be  sold,  they  sent  missionaries 
to  teach  the  blacks  the  true  faith  ! 

Prince  Henry  had  died  Nov.  13,  1460,  so  that  he  did 
not  live  to  see  Africa  circumnavigated  by  Bartholomew 
Diaz  or  Vasco  da  Gama. 

The  then  known  world  talked  about  these  expeditions 
of  Portugal ;  therefore  it  was  not  strange  that  Columbus, 
thirty-five  years  old,  should  make  his  way  to  Lisbon, 
about  the  year  1470.  His  younger  brother,  Bartho- 
lomew, was  already  living  in  Lisbon,  making,  maps  and 
globes  with  great  skill.  Columbus  is  described  at  that 
time  as  tall  and  of  exceedingly  fine  figure,  suave,  yet 
dignified  in  manners,  with  fair  complexion,  eyes  blue  and 
full  of  expression,  hair  light,  but  at  thirty  white  as  snow 
He  had  the  air  of  one  born  to  be  a  leader,  while  he  won 
friends  by  his  frankness  and  cordiality. 

In  Lisbon,  Columbus  attended  services  at  the  chapel 
of  the  Convent  of  All  Saints.-  One  of  the  ladies  of  rank, 
who  either  boarded  at  the  monastery,  or  had  some 
official  connection  with  it,  was  so  pleased  with  the  evi- 
dent devotion  of  the  young  stranger,  that  she  sought  his 
acquaintance,  and  married  him  in  1473.  She  was  his 
superior  in  position  though  without  much  fortune, — 
the  daughter  of  the  Bartholomew  Perestrelo  who.  having 
discovered  the  island  of  Porto  Santo,  was  made  its 
governor  by  Prince  Henry.  Perestrelo  had  died  sixteen 
years  previously,  leaving  a  widow,  Isabella  Moniz,  and 


CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS.  7 

an  attractive  daughter,  Philippa,  the  bride  of  Columbus. 
Some  historians  think  she  was  not  a  daughter,  but  a  near 

relative. 

The   newly  wedded   couple  went  to   Porto    Santo   to 

live   with   the    mother,  who   naturally   gave   Columbus 

all  the  charts,  maps,  and  journals  of  his  father-in-law. 

These  he  carefully  studied,  becoming  familiar  with  the 

voyages  made   by  the   Portuguese.     When  he  was    not 

in  service  on  the  ocean,  he  earned  money  as  before  by 

making    maps    and    charts,  sending   some  funds  to   his 

impecunious  father,  and  helping  to  educate  his  younger 

brother. 

His  wife's  sister  had  married  Pedro  Correo,  a  naviga- 
tor of  some  prominence,  and  the  two  men  must  have 
talked  of  possible  discoveries  with  intense  interest. 

Columbus,  after  much  study,  believed  that  there  was 
land  to  the  westward  of  Spain  and  Portugal.  If  the 
earth  were  a  globe  or  sphere,  then  somewhere  between 
Portugal  and  Asia  it  was  natural  to  suppose  that  there 
was  a  large  body  of  land.  He  had  read  in  Aristotle, 
Seneca,  and  Pliny,  that  one  might  pass  from  Spain  to 
India  in  a  few  days  ;  he  had  also  read  of  wood  and 
other  articles  floating  from  the  westward  to  the  islands, 
near  the  known  continent. 

Martin  Vicenti,  a  pilot  in  the  service  of  the  King  of 
Portugal,  had  found  a  piece  of  carved  wood  four  hundred 
and  fifty  leagues  to  the  west  of  Cape  St.  Vincent.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  Azores  had  seen  trunks  of  pine-trees 
cast  upon  their  shores,  and  the  bodies  of  two  men  un- 
like any  known  race. 

So  deeply  was  Columbus  impressed  with  the  proba- 
bility of  a  western  world,  or  rather  that  the  eastern 
coast  of  Asia  stretched  far  towards  the  west,  that  he  wrote 


8  CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS. 

a  letter  to  the  learned  astronomer,  Paolo  del  Pozzio  dei 
Toscanelli  of  Florence,  in  1474,  asking  for  his  opinion 
upon  the  subject.  The  astronomer  had  already  written  a 
letter  on  the  same  matter  to  Alfonso  V.,  King  of  Portu- 
gal, and  copied  this  letter  for  Columbus,  sending  him 
also  a  chart  showing  what  he  believed  to  be  the  position 
of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  (called  the  Sea  of  Darkness), 
with  Europe  on  the  east,  and  Cathay  (China)  on  the 
west. 

Toscanelli  had  read  Marco  Polo's  book,  and  he  wrote 
to  Columbus  concerning  the  wonderful  Cathay  where 
the  great  Khan  lived,  and  where  there  was  much  gold 
and  silver  and  spices,  and  a  splendid  island,  Cipango 
(Japan),  where  "they  cover  the  temples  and  palaces  with 
solid  gold."  To  reach  these  one  must  sail  steadily  west- 
ward. 

Toscanelli  estimated  the  circumference  of  the  earth 
at  about  the  correct  figure,  but  thought  the  distance  from 
Lisbon  to  Quins  ay  (Hang-chow,  China),  westward,  to 
be  about  six  thousand  five  hundred  miles,  supposing 
that  Asia  covered  nearly  the  whole  width  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean. 

When  Columbus  had  sailed  about  one-third  of  the  way, 
thought  Toscanelli,  he  would  come  to  "  Antilia,"  or  the 
Seven  Islands,  where  seven  Spanish  bishops,  driven  out 
of  Spain  when  the  Moors  captured  it,  had  built  seven 
splendid  cities.  Below  these  he  placed  on  his  map  the 
island  of  "St  Brandon,"  where  a  Scotch  priest  of  that 
name  had  landed  in  the  sixth  century.  None  of  these 
fabled  islands  was  ever  found.  Columbus  took  this  chart 
of  Toscanelli's  with  him  when  he  sailed  for  the  New 
World.  The  aged  astronomer  had  encouraged  Colum- 
bus to  persevere  in  a  voyage  "  fraught  with  honor  as  it 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS.  9 

must  be,  and  inestimable  gain,  and  most  lofty  fame  among 
all  Christian  people.  .  .  .  When  that  voyage  shall  be 
accomplished,  it  will  be  a  voyage  to  powerful  kingdoms, 
and  to  cities  and  provinces  most  wealthy  and  noble, 
abounding  in  all  things  most  desired  by  us."  How 
literally  has  this  come  true,  though  Toscanelli  saw  only 
China  in  the  distance !  He  died  in  1482,  ten  years 
before  Columbus  was  able  to  make  the  long-desired 
voyage. 

Columbus,  if  he  had  not  read  it  before,  now  obtained 
the  book  of  Marco  Polo,  published  in  a  Latin  translation 
in  1485,  a  copy  of  which  is  now  in  the  Biblioteca  Colom- 
bina  in  Seville,  with  marginal  notes  believed  to  be  in 
the  handwriting  of  Columbus.  He  also  read  carefully, 
as  the  margin  is  nearly  covered  with  his  notes,  "Imago 
Mundi,"  published  in  1410  by  Cardinal  Pierre  d'Ailly, 
Bishop  of  Cambrai,  or  more  generally  known  as  Peter 
Alliacus.  He  copied  largely  from  Koger  Bacon,  who 
had  collated  the  writings  of  ancient  authors  to  prove 
that  the  distance  from  Spain  to  Asia  could  not  be  very 
great. 

Columbus  believed  that  to  reach  Japan  he  would  need 
to  sail  only  about  two  thousand  five  hundred  miles  from 
the  Canaries.  Happy  error  !  for  where  would  he  have 
found  men  willing  to  undertake  a  journey  of  twelve 
thousand  miles  across  an  untried  ocean  ?  Columbus  was 
eager  to  make  the  voyage,  but  he  was  poor,  comparatively 
unknown,  and  how  could  it  be  accomplished  ?  It  is  said 
that  he  sought  aid  for  his  enterprise  from  his  native 
hind,  Genoa,  but  it  was  not  given.  King  Alfonso  was 
engaged  in  a  Avar  with  Spain,  and  therefore  too  busy  to 
think  of  explorations. 

In  1181   John  11..  then  twenty-five  years  old,  came  to 


10  CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS. 

the  throne  of  Portugal,  and  he  had  the  same  ambitions 
as  his  grand-uncle,  Prince  Henry.  He  knew  of  Marco 
Polo's  account  of  Cathay,  and  he  longed  to  make  Port- 
ugal more  famous  by  her  discoveries.  He  called  men 
of  science  to  his  aid,  the  celebrated  Martin  Behaim  and 
others,  the  latter  having  invented  an  improved  astrolobe 
enabling  seamen  to  find  their  distance  from  the  equator 
by  the  altitude  of  the  sun. 

Behaim  was  a  friend  of  Columbus ;  and,  whether 
through  his  influence  or  not,  the  latter  was  encouraged 
to  lay  his  westward  scheme  before  John  II.  The  king 
listened  with  attention,  but  feared  the  expense  of  fitting 
out  the  ships,  as  the  African  expeditions  had  already 
cost  so  much.  Columbus,  having  great  faith  in  his  dis- 
coveries, asked  for  his  family  titles  and  rewards  that  the 
king  was  as  yet  unwilling  to  grant.  The  latter,  however, 
referred  the  proposition  to  two  distinguished  cosmog- 
raphers,  and  to  his  confessor,  the  Bishop  of  Ceuta. 

The  latter  opposed  the  spending  of  more  money  in 
voyages,  which  he  said  "tended  to  distract  the  attention, 
drain  the  resources,  and  divide  the  power  of  the  nation." 
The  war  in  which  the  king  was  engaged  with  the  Moors 
of  Barbary  was  sufficient  "employment  for  the  active 
valor  of  the  nation,"  the  bishop  said.  The  bishop  was 
opposed  by  Don  Pedro  de  Meneses,  Count  of  Villa  Keal, 
who  said  that  "  although  a  soldier,  he  dared  to  prognos- 
ticate, with  a  voice  and  spirit  as  if  from  heaven,  to 
whatever  prince  should  achieve  this  enterprise,  more 
happy  success  and  durable  renown  than  had  ever  been 
obtained  by  sovereign  the  most  valorous  and  fortunate." 

King  John  could  not  bear  to  give  up  the  enterprise 
entirely,  as,  if  great  achievements  should  be  lost  to 
Portugal,  he   would   never  forgive  himself.     An  under- 


CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS.  11 

handed  measure  was  therefore  adopted.  The  plans  of 
Columbus  for  this  proposed  voyage  were  laid  before  the 
king,  and  a  caravel  was  privately  sent  over  the  route  to 
see  if  some  islands  could  not  be  discovered  that  might 
make  the  westward  passage  to  Cathay  probable.  Storms 
arose,  and  the  pilots,  seeing  only  a  broad  and  turbulent 
ocean,  came  back  and  reported  this  scheme  visionary  and 
absurd.  Columbus  soon  learned  of  the  deceit,  and 
betook  himself  to  Spain  in  1485,  taking  with  him  his  little 
son  Diego,  born  in  Porto  Santo.  He  left  him  at  Huelva, 
near  Palos,  with  the  youngest  sister  of  his  wife,  who  had 
married  a  man  named  Muliar. 

Authorities  differ  about  all  the  early  incidents  of 
Columbus'  life  before  he  became  noted ;  but  this  disposi- 
tion of  the  son  seems  probable,  and  that  he  lived  with 
her  while  his  father  for  seven  long  years  besought  crowns 
in  vain  to  aid  him  in  his  grand  discoveries. 

Portugal  lost  forever  the  glory  she  might  have  won. 
Columbus  wrote  later:  "I  went  to  make  my  offer  to 
Portugal,  whose  king  was  more  versed  in  discovery  than 
any  other.  The  Lord  bound  up  his  sight  and  all  the 
senses,  so  that  in  fourteen  years  I  could  not  bring  him 
to  heed  what  I  said." 

His  wife,  with  one  child  or  perhaps  two,  was  necessarily 
left  behind  in  Portugal,  where  she  died  soon  after.  Some 
historians  think  he  deserted  her,  but  this  is  scarcely  pos- 
sible, as  under  such  circumstances  her  sister  would  not 
have  been  willing  to  keep  the  child  of  Columbus  for 
seven  years,  neither  would  his  wife's  relations  have  re- 
mained his  friends,  coming  to  see  him  in  Portugal  just 
after  he  had  started  on  his  fourth  voyage,  and  probably 
many  times  previously. 

Columbus   departed   secretly  from  Portugal,  it  is  sup- 


12  CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS. 

posed  much  in  debt  through  commercial  or  nautical  trans- 
actions, as  years  later  King  John  invited  him  to  return, 
assuring  him  that  he  would  not  be  arrested  on  any  mat- 
ters pending  against  him. 

For  many  months  in  Spain,  Columbus  probably  sup- 
ported himself  by  selling  maps  and  printed  books,  which 
Harrisse  thinks  contained  calendars  and  astronomical 
predictions.  Yet  there  was  ever  before  him  the  one  pur- 
pose of  the  westward  voyage.  He  naturally  made  friends 
among  distinguished  people  on  account  of  his  intelligence 
and  charm  of  manner,  and  he  used  all  these  opportunities 
to  further  his  one  object. 

In  January,  1486,  he  seems  to  have  entered  the  service 
of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  as  his  journal  shows.  About 
this  time  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Alonso  de  Quin- 
tanilla,  the  comptroller  of  the  finances  of  Castile,  and 
was  a  guest  at  his  house  at  Cordova,  and  with  Alexander 
Geraldini,  the  tutor  of  the  royal  children,  and  his  brother 
Antonio,  the  papal  nuncio.  These  friends,  who  became 
interested  in  the  alert  mind  and  far-reaching  plans  of  the 
navigator,  led  to  an  acquaintance  with  Pedro  Gonzales 
de  Mendoza,  Archbishop  of  Toledo  and  Grand  Cardinal 
of  Spain.  He,  of  course,  had  great  influence  with  the 
sovereigns,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  helped  to  prepare 
their  minds  for  a  kindly  reception  of  the  projects  of  Co- 
lumbus. 

These  monarchs  were  too  busy  conquering  the  Moors 
to  give  the  plan  much  consideration  ;  but  Columbus  went 
before  Ferdinand,  and  with  the  earnestness  born  of  con- 
viction, explained  his  wishes. 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella  ruled  jointly  over  Aragon 
and  Castile,  but  while  their  names  were  stamped  together 
on  the  public  coins,  they  had  separate  councils,  and  were 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS.  13 

often  in  separate  parts  of  the  country,  governing  their 
respective  kingdoms. 

Ferdinand  was  of  good  physique,  with  chestnut-colored 
hair,  animated  in  countenance,  quick  of  speech,  and  a 
tireless  worker. 

Irving  says  he  was  "cold,  selfish,  and  artful.  He 
was  called  the  wise  and  prudent  in  Spain  ;  in  Italy,  the 
pious ;  in  France  and  England,  the  ambitious  and  per- 
fidious. He  certainly  was  one  of  the  most  subtle  states- 
men, but  one  of  the  most  thorough  egotists,  that  ever 
sat  upon  a  throne." 

Winsor  says  '-'his  smiles  and  remorseless  coldness  were 
mixed  as  few  could  mix  them  even  in  those  days.  .  .  . 
He  was  enterprising  in  his  actions,  as  the  Moors  and 
heretics  found  out.  He  did  not  extort  money,  he  only 
extorted  agonized  confessions." 

Castehar  says  "he  joined  the  strength  of  the  lion 
to  the  instincts  of  the  fox.  Perchance  in  all  history 
there  has  not  been  his  equal  in  energy  and  craftiness. 
He  was  distrustful  above  all  else  ;  ...  he  scrupled  little 
to  resort  to  dissimulation,  deceit,  and,  in  case  of  neces- 
sity, crime."  Isabella,  Castelar,  calls,  "  the  foremost 
and  most  saintly  queen  of  Christendom." 

Irving  thinks  Isabella  "one  of  the  purest  and  most 
beautiful  characters  in  the  pages  of  history.  She  was 
well  formed,  of  the  middle  size,  with  great  dignity  and 
gracefulness  of  deportment,  and  a  mingled  gravity  and 
sweetness  of  demeanor.  Her  complexion  was  fair;  her 
hair  auburn,  inclining  to  red;  her  eyes  were  of  a  clear 
blue,  with  a  benign  expression,  and  there  was  a  singular 
modesty  in  her  countenance,  gracing,  as  it  did,  a  won- 
derful firmness  of  purpose  and  earnestness  of  spirit. 
Though  strongly  attached  to  her  husband,  and  studious 


14  CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS. 

of  his  fame,  yet  she  always  maintained  her  distinct  rights 
as  an  allied  prince.  She  exceeded  him  in  beauty,  in  per- 
sonal dignity,  in  acuteness  of  genius,  and  in  grandeur  of 
soul.   .   .   . 

"  She  strenuously  opposed  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews 
and  the  establishment  of  the  Inquisition,  though,  unfortu- 
nately for  Spain,  her  repugnance  was  slowly  vanquished 
by  her  confessor.  She  was  always  an  advocate  for  clem- 
ency to  the  Moors,  although  she  was  the  soul  of  the  war 
against  Granada.  She  considered  that  war  essential  to 
protect  the  Christian  faith,  and  to  relieve  her  subjects 
from  fierce  and  formidable  enemies.  While  all  her  pub- 
lic thoughts  and  acts  were  princely  and  august,  her  private 
habits  were  simple,  frugal,  and  unostentatious. 

"  In  the  intervals  of  state-business  she  assembled  round 
her  the  ablest  men  in  literature  and  science,  and  directed 
herself  by  their  councils,  in  promoting  letters  and  arts. 
Through  her  patronage  Salamanca  rose  to  that  height 
which  it  assumed  among  the  learned  institutions  of  the 
age." 

Isabella  was  not  less  brave  in  war  than  she  was 
statesmanlike  in  peace.  Several  complete  suits  of  armor, 
which  she  wore  in  her  campaigns,  are  preserved  in  the 
royal  arsenal  at  Madrid. 

Ferdinand  referred  the  proposed  expedition  of  Colum- 
bus to  Isabella's  confessor,  Fernando  de  Talavera,  one 
of  the  most  learned  men  of  Spain,  who  in  turn  laid 
it  before  a  junto  of  distinguished  men,  some  of  them 
from  the  University  of  Salamanca. 

The  meeting  was  held  in  the  convent  of  St.  Stephen, 
where  Columbus  was  entertained  during  the  examination. 
It  must  have  been  a  time  of  the  greatest  anxiety,  yet 
brightened  by  hope.  He  stated  the  case  with  his  usual 
dignity  and  firm  belief. 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS.  15 

To  the  majority  of  tlie  junto  such  a  plan  seemed  sac- 
rilegious. Some  quoted  from  the  early  theological 
•writers  :  "  Is  there  any  one  so  foolish  as  to  believe  that 
there  are  antipodes  with  their  feet  opposite  to  ours  ; 
people  who  walk  with  their  heels  upward,  and  their  heads 
hanging  down  ?  That  there  is  a  part  of  the  world  in 
which  all  things  are  topsy-turvy  ;  where  the  trees  grow 
with  their  branches  downward,  and  where  it  rains,  hails, 
and  snows  upward  ?  " 

They  opposed  texts  of  Scripture  to  the  earth  being  a 
sphere,  and  showed  from  St.  Augustine  that  if  there  were 
people  on  the  other  side  of  a  globe,  they  could  not  be 
descended  from  Adam,  as  the  Bible  stated,  because  they 
could  not  have  crossed  the  intervening  ocean. 

Others  said  that  if  Columbus  sailed,  and  reached  India, 
he  could  never  get  back,  for,  the  globe  being  round,  the 
waters  would  rise  in  a  mountain,  up  which  it  would  be 
impossible  to  sail.  Others,  with  more  wisdom,  said  that 
the  earth  was  so  large  that  it  would  take  three  years  to 
sail  around  it,  and  that  provisions  could  not  be  taken  for 
so  long  a  voyage. 

Columbus  maintained  that  the  inspired  writers  were  not 
speaking  as  cosmographers,  and  that  the  early  fathers 
were  not  necessarily  philosophers  or  scientists,  and  he 
quoted  from  the  Bible  verses  which  he  believed  pointed 
to  the  sublime  discovery  which  he  proposed.  Diego  de 
Deza,  a  learned  friar,  afterwards  Archbishop  of  Seville, 
the  second  ecclesiastical  dignitary  of  Spain,  was  won  by 
the  arguments  of  Columbus,  and  became  an  earnest 
co-worker.  Other  conferences  took  place,  but  nothing 
decisive  was  accomplished. 

When  the  monarchs  were  in  some  protracted  siege  for 
several  months,  like  that  at  Malaga,  Columbus  would  be 


16  CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS. 

summoned  to  a  conference  ;  but,  for  one  reason  or  another, 
it  would  be  postponed.  "  Often  in  these  campaigns,"  says 
an  old  chronicler,  "  Columbus  was  found  fighting,  giving 
proofs  of- the  distinguished  valor  which  accompanied  his 
wisdom  and  his  lofty  desires." 

Whenever  Columbus  was  summoned  to  follow  the 
court,  he  was  attached  to  the  royal  suite,  and  his  ex- 
penses provided  for.  During  the  intervals  he  supported 
himself  as  before  by  his  maps  and  charts.  He  was  con- 
stantly ridiculed  as  a  dreamer,  so  that  it  is  said  the  chil- 
dren in  the  streets  made  fun  of  him.  "He  went  about 
so  ill-clad,"  says  Castelar,  "  that  he  was  named  the 
'  Stranger  with  the  Threadbare  Cloak.'  " 

In  the  midst  of  all  these  delays  and  bitterness  of 
soul  and  exposures  in  war,  Columbus,  when  he  was  not 
far  from  fifty  years  old,  fell  in  love  with  a  beautiful 
young  woman,  Beatrix  Enriquez  Arana,  of  a  noble  fam- 
ily, but  reduced  in  fortune.  Her  brother  was  the  inti- 
mate friend  of  Columbus.  In  1488,  Aug.  15,  a  son 
Ferdinand  was  born  to  Beatrix  and  Columbus,  who 
became  in  after  years  a  noted  student  and  book  col- 
lector, the  biographer  of  his  father,  and  the  owner  of  a 
library  of  over  twenty  thousand  volumes,  bought  in  all 
the  principal  book  marts  of  Europe.  Ferdinand  left 
money  to  the  Cathedral  of  Seville,  for  the  care  of  this 
library  ;  but  for  some  centuries  it  was  neglected,  even 
children,  it  is  said,  being  allowed  to  roam  in  the  halls, 
and  destroy  the  valuable  treasures. 

Columbus  seems  to  have  been  tenderly  attached  to 
Beatrix  as  long  as  he  lived,  and  provided  for  her  in  his 
will,  at  his  death,  enjoining  his  son  Diego  to  care  for 
her.  She  survived  Columbus  many  years,  he  dying  in 
150G ;  and  Mr.  Winsor  thinks  she   unquestionably  sur- 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS.  17 

vived  the  making  of  Diego's  will  in  1523,  seventeen 
years  after  his  father's  death. 

Among  the  noted  personages  whom  Columbus  tried  to 
interest  in  his  plans,  either  when  he  first  came  to  Spain, 
as  Irving  and  Castelar  think,  or  some  years  later,  accord- 
ing to  Harrisse,  Winsor,  Fiske,  and  others,  were  the 
rich  and  powerful  dukes,  Medina-Sidonia  and  Medina- 
Celi.  These  had  great  estates  along  the  seacoast,  and 
owned  ships  of  their  own.  The  former  was  at  first  inter- 
ested, but  finally  refused  to  assist. 

The  latter,  Luis  de  la  Cerda,  made  sovereign  of  the 
Canaries  by  Pope  Clement  VI.,  with  the  title  of  Prince 
of  Fortune,  took  Columbus  to  his  own  elegant  castle  and 
made  it  his  home  for  two  years.  He  was  a  learned  man, 
and  he  and  Columbus  studied  the  stars  and  navigation 
together.  He  was  desirous  of  fitting  out  some  vessels 
for  the  enterprise  of  Columbus ;  but  fearing  that  the 
monarchs  would  oppose  such  a  work  by  a  private  indi- 
vidual, he  remained  inactive.  Finally  Columbus  deter- 
mined to  appeal  to  the  King  of  France  for  aid — he  had 
already  sent  Bartholomew,  his  brother,  to  Henry  VII.  of 
England,  to  ask  his  help  ;  but  Bartholomew  was  captured 
by  pirates,  and  was  not  heard  from  for  some  years. 

Medina-Celi,  fearing  that  some  other  country  would 
win  the  renown  of  a  great  discovery  which  he  felt  sure 
Columbus  would  make,  wrote  an  urgent  letter  to  the 
monarchs,  offering  to  fit  out  two  or  three  caravels  for 
Columbus,  and  have  a  share  in  the  profits  of  the  voy- 
age ;  but  Isabella  refused,  saying  that  she  had  not  de- 
cided about  the  matter. 

Columbus  was  growing  heart-sick  with  his  weary 
waiting.  The  city  of  Baza,  besieged  for  more  than  six 
months,  had  surrendered  Dec.  22,  1489,  to  Spain,  Muley 


18  CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS. 

Boabdil,  the  elder  of  the  two  rival  kings  of  Granada, 
giving  up  all  his  possessions,  and  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
had  entered  Seville  in  triumph  in  February  of  1490. 
Great  rejoicing  soon  followed  over  the  marriage  of  their 
daughter,  Princess  Isabella,  with  the  heir  to  the  throne 
of  Portugal,  Don  Alonzo. 

As  the  summer  passed  Columbus  heard  that  the  mon- 
archs  were  to  proceed  against  the  younger  Moorish  king. 
He  had  become  impatient  with  this  constant  procrasti- 
nation, and  had  pressed  the  sovereigns  for  a  decision. 
He  was  fifty-five  years  old,  and  life  was  slipping  by,  with 
nothing  accomplished.  Talavera,  who  cared  for  little 
except  to  see  the  Moors  conquered,  finally  presented  the 
matter  before  another  junto,  who  decided  that  the  plan 
was  vain  and  impossible. 

But  the  sovereigns,  not  quite  willing  to  let  a  possible 
achievement  slip  from  their  grasp,  sent  word  to  Colum- 
bus that  when  the  war  was  over  they  would  gladly  take 
up  the  matter,  and  give  it  careful  attention.  Columbus 
determined  to  hear  from  their  own  lips  that  for  which  he 
had  waited  nearly  seven  long  years  in  useless  hope,  and 
repaired  at  once  to  Seville.  The  reply  was  as  before, 
and,  poor,  and  growing  old,  he  turned  his  back  upon 
Spain  to  seek  the  assistance  of  France. 

He  went  to  Huelva  for  his  boy,  Diego,  possibly  to  leave 
him  with  Beatrix  and  the  child  Ferdinand,  then  three 
years  old  ;  and  when  about  half  a  league  from  Palos, 
stopped  at  the  convent  of  La  Kabida,  dedicated  to  Santa 
Maria  de  Babida.  It  belonged  to  the  Franciscan  friars, 
a  lonely  place  on  a  height  above  the  ocean. 

Columbus  was  walking  —  he  had  no  money  to  pay  for 
travelling  —  was  leading  his  boy  by  the  hand,  and  stopped 
to  ask  for  some  bread  and  water  for  his  child.    The  friar 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS.  19 

of  the  convent,  Juan  Perez,  happening  to  pass  by,  was 
struck  by  the  appearance  of  the  white-haired  man,  and 
entered  into  conversation  with  him.  Juan  Perez  was  a 
man  of  much  information,  had  been  confessor  to  the 
queen,  and  was  deeply  interested  in  the  plans  of  Colum- 
bus. He  asked  him  to  remain  as  his  guest  at  the  con- 
vent, and  sent  for  his  friend,  Garcia  Fernandez,  a 
physician  of  Palos,  and  a  well-read  man,  and  Martin 
Alonzo  Pinzon,  a  wealthy  navigator,  to  talk  with  this 
stranger.  Pinzon  at  once  offered  to  help  furnish  money 
and  to  go  in  person  on  the  hazardous  voyage. 

Perez,  loyal  to  Isabella,  felt  that  Prance  ought  not  to 
win  such  honor,  when  it  lay  at  the  very  door  of  Spain. 
He  proposed  to  write  to  Isabella  at  once  ;  and  Colum- 
bus, with  probably  but  little  hope  at  this  late  day,  con- 
sented to  remain  until  an  answer  was  received  from  her. 

Sebastian  Rodriguez,  a  pilot  of  Lepe,  and  a  man  of 
some  note,  was  chosen  to  bear  the  precious  letter.  He 
found  access  to  the  queen,  who  wrote  a  letter  to  Juan 
Perez,  thanking  him  for  his  timely  message,  and  asking 
that  he  come  immediatelyNto  court. 

At  the  end  of  fourteen  days  Rodriguez  returned,  and 
the  little  company  at  the  convent  rejoiced  with  renewed 
hopes.  The  good  friar  saddled  his  mule,  and  before  mid- 
night was  on  his  way  to  Santa  Fe,  the  military  city 
where  the  queen  was  stationed  while  pressing  the  siege 
of  Granada. 

The  letter  of  Medina-Celi  had  influenced  her;  and  her 
best  friend  and  companion,  the  Marchioness  Moya,  a 
woman  of  superior  ability,  was  urging  her  to  aid  Colum- 
bus and  thus  bring  great  renown  to  herself  and  to  Spain. 

Juan  Perez  pressed  his  suit  warmly,  with  the  result 
that  Isabella  sent  Columbus  twenty  thousand  maravedis 


20  CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS. 

(Mr.  Fiske  says  one  thousand,  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
dollars  of  our  money)  to  buy  proper  clothing  to  appear 
at  court,  and  to  provide  himself  with  a  mule  for  the 
journey. 

Bidding  good-by  to  the  rejoicing  company  at  La  Ba- 
bida,  Columbus,  accompanied  by  Juan  Perez,  started 
early  in  December,  1491,  on  their  mules,  for  the  royal 
camp  at  Santa  Fe. 

Alonso  de  Quintanilla,  his  former  friend,  the  account- 
ant-general, received  Columbus  cordially,  and  provided 
for  his  entertainment.  The  queen  could  not  receive  him 
just  then ;  for  Boabdil,  the  last  of  the  Moorish  kings, 
was  about  to  surrender  Granada,  which  he  did  January 
2,  1492,  giving  up  the  keys  of  the  gorgeous  Alhambra  to 
the  Spanish  sovereigns. 

At  the  surrender  Ferdinand  was  dressed  in  his  royal 
robes,  his  crimson  mantle  lined  with  ermine,  and  his 
plumed  cap  radiant  with  jewels,  while  about  him  were 
brilliantly  clad  officials  on  their  richly  caparisoned  horses. 
Boabdil  wore  black,  as  befitting  his  sad  defeat.  He  at- 
tempted to  dismount  and  kneel  before  Ferdinand ;  but  this 
the  latter  would  not  permit,  so  he  imprinted  a  kiss  upon 
Ferdinand's  right  arm. 

After  having  surrendered  the  two  great  keys  of  the 
city,  Boabdil  said  to  the  knight  who  was  to  rule  over 
Granada,  Inigo  Lopez  de  Mendoza,  taking  from  his  own 
finger  a  gold  ring  set  with  a  precious  jewel,  and  handing 
it  to  Mendoza,  "With  this  signet  has  Granada  been 
governed.  Take  it,  that  you  may  rule  the  land;  and 
may  Allah  prosper  your  power  more  than  lie  hath  pros- 
pered mine." 

After  this  Boabdil  met  the  queen  in  royal  attire  seated 
upon  her  horse,  her  son,  Prince  Juan,  in  the  richest  gar- 


CHUISTOPUER    COLUMBUS.  21 

ments  on  horseback  at  her  right,  and  the  princess  and 
ladies  of  her  court  at  her  left.  Here  Boabdil  knelt  before 
the  queen.  His  first-born  had  been  kept  by  his  enemies 
as  a  hostage,  and  he  was  there  returned  to  his  father. 

"  Hitherto,"  says  Castelar,  "  Boabdil  had  shed  no  tear, 
but  now,  on  beholding  again  the  son  of  Moraima,  his  be- 
loved, he  pressed  his  face  against  the  face  of  the  poor 
child  and  wept  passionately  of  the  abundance  of  his 
heart." 

The  time  had  come  for  Columbus  to  meet  Isabella. 
When  in  her  presence  he  stipulated  that  if  the  voyage 
were  undertaken,  he  should  be  made  admiral  and  viceroy 
over  the  countries  discovered,  and  receive  the  tenth  part 
of  the  revenues  from  the  lands,  either  by  trade  or  con- 
quest. The  conditions  were  not  harder  than  those  of 
subsequent  voyagers,  but  to  the  courtiers  and  to  Talavera 
such  demands  made  by  a  threadbare  navigator  seemed 
absurd.  Talavera  represented  to  Isabella  that  it  would  be 
degrading  so  to  exalt  an  ordinary  man  and,  as  he  thought, 
an  adventurer. 

More  moderate  terms  w§re  offered  Columbus,  but  he 
declined  them  ;  and,  more  sick  at  heart  than  ever,  he 
mounted  his  mule,  in  the  beginning  of  February,  1492, 
and  turned  back  to  Cordova  and  La  Rabida,  on  his  way 
to  France. 

Alonso  de  Quintanilla,  and  Luis  de  Santangel,  receiver 
of  the  ecclesiastical  revenues  in  Aragon,  were  distressed 
beyond  measure  at  this  termination  of  the  meeting. 
They  rushed  into  the  queen's  presence  and  eloquently 
besought  her  to  reconsider  the  matter,  reminding  her 
how  much  she  could  do  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  re- 
nown of  Spain  by  some  grand  discoveries.  The  Marchion- 
ess Moya,  Beatrix  de  Bobadilla,  added  all  the  fervor  of 
her  nature  lu  the  request. 


22  CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS. 

Ferdinand  looked  coldly  upon  the  project.  The  treas- 
ury of  the  country  was  exhausted  by  the  late  wars. 
Finally,  with  her  woman's  heart  responsive  to  heroic 
deeds,  and  a  far-sightedness  beyond  that  of  the  doubting 
Ferdinand,  she  said,  "I  undertake  the  enterprise  for 
my  own  crown  of  Castile,  and  will  pledge  my  jewels  to 
raise  the  necessary  funds." 

"  This,"  truly  says  Irving,  "  was  the  proudest  moment 
in  the  life  of  Isabella;  it  stamped  her  renown  forever 
as  the  patroness  of  the  discovery  of  the  New  World." 

Isabella  did  not  have  to  part  with  her  jewels,  as  the 
funds  were  raised  by  Santangel  from  his  private  reve- 
nues, and  it  is  now  generally  believed  that  no  help  was 
given  by  Ferdinand.  It  is  quite  probable  that  the  queen 
pledged  her  jewels  as  security  for  the  loan  by  Santangel. 

A  courier  was  sent  in  all  haste  after  Columbus,  who 
was  found  about  six  miles  out  of  Granada,  crossing  the 
bridge  of  Finos.  When  he  was  told  that  the  queen 
wished  to  see  him,  he  hesitated  for  a  moment,  lest  the 
old  disappointment  should  be  in  store  for  him  ;  but  when 
it  was  asserted  that  she  had  given  a  positive  promise  to 
undertake  the  enterprise,  he  turned  his  mule  toward 
Santa  Fe,  and  hastened  back  joyfully  to  Isabella's  pres- 
ence. 

The  queen  received  him  with  great  benignity,  and 
granted  all  the  concessions  he  had  asked.  He,  at  his  own 
suggestion,  by  the  assistance  of  the  Pinzons  of  Palos, 
was  to  bear  one-eighth  of  the  expense,  Avhich  he  did 
later.  The  papers  were  signed  at  Santa  Fe  April  17, 
1492,  and  on  May  12  (his  son  Diego  having  been  four  days 
previously  appointed  page  to  the  prince-apparent)  he  set 
out  joyfully  for  Palos  to  prepare  for  the  long-hoped-for 
voyage. 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS.  23 

On  arriving  at  Palos  he  went  immediately  to  the  con- 
vent of  La  Rabida,  and  he  and  Juan  Perez  rejoiced 
together.  On  the  morning  of  May  23  the  two  proceeded 
to  the  church  of  St.  George  in  Palos,  where  many  of  the 
leading  people  had  been  notified  to  be  present,  and  there 
gave  the  royal  order  by  which  two  caravels  or  barks,  with 
their  crews,  were  to  be  ready  for  sea  in  ten  days,  Palos, 
for  some  misdemeanor,  having  been  required  to  furnish 
two  armed  caravels  to  the  crown  for  one  year.  A  certifi- 
cate of  good  conduct  from  Columbus  was  considered  a 
discharge  of  obligation  to  the  monarchs.  To  any  person 
willing  to  engage  in  the  expedition,  all  criminal  pro- 
cesses against  them  or  their  property  were  to  be  suspended 
during  absence. 

When  it  was  known  that  the  vessels  were  to  go  on  an 
untried  ocean,  perhaps  never  to  return,  the  men  were 
filled  with  terror  and  refused  to  obey  the  royal  decree. 
Weeks  passed  and  nothing  was  accomplished.  Mobs 
gathered  as  men  were  pressed  into  the  service. 

Finally,  through  the  influence  of  the  Pinzons,  and  more 
royal  commands,  the  three  vessels  were  made  ready.  The 
largest,  which  was  decked,  called  the  Santa  Maria,  be- 
longed to  Juan  de  la  Cosa,  who  now  commanded  her, 
Avith  Sancho  Ruiz  and  Pedro  Alonzo  Nino  for  his  pilots. 
She  was  ninety  feet  long  by  twenty  feet  broad,  and  was 
the  Admiral's  flag-ship. 

The  other  open  vessels  were  the  Pinta,  commanded  by 
Martin  Alonzo  Pinzon,  with  his  brother,  Francisco  Mar- 
tin Pinzon,  as  pilot,  and  the  Nina  (Baby),  commanded  by 
another  brother,  Vicente  Yanez  Pinzon.  On  board  the 
three  ships  were  one  hundred  and  twenty  persons  ac- 
cording to  Irving,  but  according  to  Ferdinand,  the  son  of 
Columbus,  and  Las  Casas,  ninety  persons. 


24  CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS. 

Isabella  paid  towards  this  equipment  1,140,000  mara- 
vedis,  probably  equal  to  about  $67,500  ;  while  Columbus 
raised  500,000  maravedis,  or  $29,500. 

The  vessels  being  ready  for  sea,  Columbus,  his  officers, 
and  crews  partook  of  the  sacrament,  and  made  confession 
to  Friar  Juan  Perez,  and  on  Friday  —  this  was  considered 
a  lucky  day,  as  Granada  was  taken  on  Friday,  and  the 
first  crusade  under  Godfrey  of  Bouillon  had  taken  Jerusa- 
lem on  the  same  day  —  Aug.  3,  1492,  half  an  hour  before 
sunrise,  with  many  tears  and  lamentations,  they  sailed 
away  from  Palos  toward  an  unknown  land.  A  deep  gloom 
came  over  the  people  of  Palos,  for  they  never  expected 
to  see  their  loved  ones  again.  For  three  hours  Perez  and 
his  friends  watched  the  fading  sails  till  they  disappeared 
from  sight. 

On  the  third  day  at  sea  the  rudder  of  the  Pinta  was 
found  to  be  broken,  and  Columbus  surmised  that  it  had 
happened  purposely,  as  the  owners  of  the  boat,  Gomez 
Ilascon  and  Christoval  Quintero,  were  on  board,  and  hav- 
ing been  pressed  into  service  against  their  will,  were 
glad  of  any  excuse  to  turn  back. 

By  care  she  was  taken  on  Aug.  9  as  far  as  the  Canary 
Islands,  where  Columbus  hoped  to  replace  her  by  another 
vessel ;  but  after  three  weeks,  and  no  prospect  of  another 
ship,  they  were  obliged  to  make  a  new  rudder  for  the 
Pinta  and  go  forward. 

On  the  6th  of  September,  early  in  the  morning,  they 
sailed  away  from  the  island  of  Gomera,  and  were  soon 
out  of  sight  of  land.  The  hearts  of  the  seamen  now 
failed  them,  and  rugged  sailors  wept  like  children. 
The  admiral  tried  to  comfort  them  with  the  prospect  of 
gold  and  precious  stones  in  India  and  Cathay,  enough  to 
make  them  all  rich. 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS.  25 

Seeing  their  terror  as  well  as  real  sorrow  at  being 
alone  on  the  ocean,  he  deceived  them  as  to  the  distance 
from  their  homes,  by  keeping  two  reckonings,  — one  cor- 
rect for  himself,  one  false  for  them.  The  sailors  were 
constantly  anxious  and  distrustful.  They  were  alarmed 
when  they  saw  the  peak  of  Teneriffe  in  the  Canaries  in 
eruption,  and  now  the  deflection  of  the  compass-needle 
away  from  the  pole-star  made  them  sure  that  the  very 
laws  of  nature  were  being  changed  on  this  wild  and 
unknown  waste  of  waters. 

On  Sept.  1G  they  sailed  into  vast  masses  of  seaweeds, 
abounding  in  fish  and  crabs.  They  were  eight  hundred 
miles  from  the  Canaries,  in  the  Sargasso  Sea,  which  was 
two  thousand  fathoms'  or  more  than  two  miles  in  depth. 
They  feared  they  should  be  stranded,  and  could  be 
convinced  to  the  contrary  only  when  their  lines  were 
thrown  into  the  sea  and  failed  to  touch  bottom. 

Almost  daily  they  thought  they  saw  land;  now  it  was 
a  mirage  at  sunrise  or  sunset ;  now  two  pelicans  came  on 
board,  and  these  Columbus  felt  sure  did  not  go  over 
twenty  leagues  from  land  ;  now  they  caught  a  bird  with 
feet  like  a  sea-fowl,  and  were  cei'tain  that  it  was  a  river- 
bird;  now  singing  land  birds,  as  they  thought,  hovered 
about  the  ship. 

They  began  to  grow  restless  so  often  were  they  dis- 
appointed. They  were  borne  westward  by  the  trade 
winds,  and  they  feared  that  the  wind  would  always  pre- 
vail from  the  east,  so  that  they  would  never  get  back  to 
Spain. 

They  finally  began  to  murmur  against  Columbus,  that 
he  was  an  Italian,  and  did  not  care  for  Spaniards ;  and 
they  talked  among  themselves  of  an  easy  way  to  be  rid  of 
him  by  the  single  thrust  of  a  poniard.     Columbus  knew 


26  CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS. 

of  their  mutinous  spirit,  and  sometimes  soothed  and 
sometimes  threatened  them  with  punishment. 

On  Sept.  25  Martin  Alonzo  Pinzon  thought  he  beheld 
land  to  the  south-west,  and,  mounting  on  the  stern  of  his 
vessel,  cried,  "  Land !  Land !  Senor,  I  claim  my  re- 
ward !  "  The  sovereign  had  offered  a  prize  of  ten  thou- 
sand maravedis  to  the  one  who  should  first  discover  land. 

Columbus  threw  himself  upon  his  knees  and  gave 
thanks  to  God,  and  Martin  repeated  the  Gloria  in  excelsis, 
in  which  all  the  crew  joined.  Morning  put  an  end  to 
their  vision  of  land,  and  they  sailed  on  as  before,  ever 
farther  from  home  and  friends. 

So  many  times  the  crew  thought  they  discerned  land 
and  gave  a  false  alarm,  afterwards  growing  more  discon- 
tented, that  Columbus  declared  that  all  such  should 
forfeit  their  claim  to  the  award,  unless  land  were  dis- 
covered in  three  days. 

On  the  morning  of  Oct.  7  the  crew  of  the  Nina 
were  sure  they  saw  land,  hoisted  the  flag  at  her  mast- 
head, and  discharged  a  gun,  the  preconcerted  signals,  but 
they  soon  found  that  they  had  deceived  themselves. 

The  crews  now  became  dejected.  They  had  come 
2,724  miles  from  the  Canaries,  and  this  was  farther  than 
Columbus  had  supposed  Cipango  (Japan)  to  be.  He  de- 
termined therefore  to  sail  west  south-west,  instead  of  due 
west.  If  he  had  kept  on  his  course  he  would  have 
touched  Florida.  Field  birds  came  flying  about  the 
ships,  and  a  heron,  a  pelican,  and  a  duck  were  seen  ;  but 
the  sailors  murmured  more  and  more,  and  insisted  upon 
his  turning  homeward,  and  giving  up  a  useless  voyage. 

He  endeavored  to  pacify  at  first,  and  then  he  told 
them,  happen  what  might,  he  should  press  on  to  the 
Indies. 


CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS.  27 

The  next  day  the  indications  of  land  grew  stronger; 
a  green  fish  of  a  kind  which  lives  on  rocks  was  seen,  a 
branch  of  hawthorn  with  berries  on  it,  and  a  staff  arti- 
ficially carved.  Not  an  eye  was  closed  that  night, 
Columbus  having  promised  a  doublet  of  velvet  in  addi- 
tion to  the  prize  offered  by  the  sovereigns  to  the  first 
discoverer  of  land.  As  evening  came  on  Columbus  took 
his  position  on  the  foremost  part  of  his  vessel,  and 
watched  intently.  About  ten  o'clock  he  thought  he  saw 
a  light  in  the  distance,  and  called  to  Pedro  Gutierrez 
chamberlain  in  the  king's  service,  who  confirmed  it. 
He  then  called  Rodrigo  Sanchez,  but  by  that  time  the 
light  had  disappeared.  Once  or  twice  afterward  they 
saw  it  as  though  some  person  were  carrying  it  on  shore 
or  in  a  boat,  tossed  by  waves. 

At  two  in  the  morning  on  Friday  of  Oct.  12  the 
Pinta,  which  sailed  faster  than  the  other  ships,  descried 
the  land  two  leagues  away.  Rodrigo  de  Triana  of  Se- 
ville first  saw  it;  but  the  award  was  given  to  Columbus, 
as  he  had  first  seen  the  light. 

A  thrill  of  joy  and  thanksgiving  ran  through  every 
heart.  Columbus  hastily  threw  his  scarlet  cloak  about 
him,  and  with  one  hand  grasping  his  sword  and  the  other 
the  cross,  standing  beneath  the  royal  banner,  gold  em- 
broidered with  F.  and  Y.  on  either  side,  the  initials  of 
Ferdinand  and  Ysabel,  surmounted  by  crowns,  he  and 
his  followers  put  out  to  shore  in  a  little  boat.  As  soon 
as  he  landed  he  knelt  on  the  earth,  kissed  it,  and  gave 
thanks  to  God  with  tears,  all  joining  him  in  the  Te 
Deum. 

His  men  gathered  about  him,  embraced  him  while  they 
wept,  begged  his  forgiveness  for  their  mutinous  spirit, 
and  promised  obedience  in  the  future. 


28  Christopher  col um bus.    . 

The  naked  natives,  filled  witli  awe  at  these  beings  in 
armor,  whom  they  supposed  had  come  from  heaven,  — 
alas  !  that  they  should  have  been  so  pitifully  deceived, 
—  fled  to  the  woods  at  first,  but  soon  came  close  to  the 
Spaniards,  felt  of  their  white  beards,  touched  their  white 
skin,  so  unlike  their  own,  and  were  as  gentle  as  children. 
When  a  sword  was  shown  them,  they  innocently  took  it 
by  the  edge.  They  received  eagerly  the  bells  and  red 
caps  which  Columbus  offered  them,  and  gave  cakes  of 
bread,  called  cassava,  parrots,  and  cotton  yarn  in  ex- 
change. 

The  island  upon  which  Columbus  probably  landed  was 
called  by  the  natives  Guanahani,  now  San  Salvador, 
one  of  the  Bahama  group.  It  has  never  been  fully 
settled  upon  which  of  the  group  Columbus  landed,  many 
believing  it  to  have  been  Watling's  Island. 

Columbus  Avas  amazed  at  the  canoes  of  the  people,  a 
single  tree  trunk  being  hollowed  out  sufficiently  to  hold 
forty  or  forty-five  men.  He  wrote  in  his  journal : 
"Some  brought  us  water;  others  things  to  eat;  others, 
when  they  saw  that  I  went  not  ashore,  leaped  into  the 
sea,  swimming,  and  came,  and,  as  we  supposed,  asked  us 
if  we  were  come  from  heaven ;  and  then  came  an 
old  man  into  the  boat,  and  all  men  and  women,  in  a 
loud  voice  cried,  '  Come  and  see  the  men  who  came 
from  heaven  ;  bring  them  food  and  drink.' " 

The  people  had  some  bits  of  gold  about  them,  in  their 
noses  and  elsewhere ;  and  as  gold  was  ever  the  dream  of 
the  Spanish  discoverer,  they  were  eagerly  questioned  as  to 
where  the  precious  metal  was  to  be  obtained.  Columbus 
understood  them  to  say  farther  south,  so  while  he  be- 
lieved he  had  touched  the  Indies,  he  must  go  still  farther 
for  the  wonderful  Cipango. 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS.  29 

He  seized  seven  Indians  and  took  them  on  board  to 
learn  the  Spanish  language  and  become  interpreters. 
Two  of  them  soon  escaped,  as  they  naturally  loved  their 
homes  and  their  people. 

Columbus  has  been  severely  censured  for  his  course 
towards  the  Indians,  then  and  later;  but  it  is  becoming 
in  us  Americans  to  deal  leniently  with  the  early  discov- 
erers, when  we  remember  how  a  Christian  nation  has 
treated  the  Indians  through  four  centuries.  The  blame 
cannot  be  put  entirely  upon  Indian  agents ;  our  people 
have  shown  the  same  eager  desires  for  their  land  as  the 
Spaniards.  We  have  forgotten  to  keep  our  promises, 
and  these  things  have  been  permitted  by  those  in  exalted 
official  position.   - 

After  having  investigated  the  island  upon  which  he 
landed,  Columbus  reached  another  island  Oct.  15,  which 
he  called  Santa  Maria  de  la  Conception,  and  on  Oct. 
16  another,  which  he  called  Fernandina.  The  little 
houses  of  the  people  were  neat.  They  used  hamacs 
for  beds,  nets  hung  from  posts ;  hence  our  word  ham- 
mocks. They  had  dogs  which  could  not  bark.  Colum- 
bus named  the  next  island  which  he  found  Isabella,  and 
then,  Oct.  28,  reached  Cuba,  where  he  hoped,  from  the 
half-understood  natives,  that  gold  would  be  obtained 
in  abundance.  He  found  luxuriant  vegetation,  brilliant 
birds  and  flowers,  fish  which  rivalled  the  birds  in  color, 
a  beautiful  river,  a  country  where  "  one  could  live  for- 
ever," he  said.  "It  is  the  most  beautiful  island  that 
eyes  ever  beheld,  full  of  excellent  ports  and  profound 
rivers."  The  tropical  nights  filled  him  with  admiration. 
Nothing  was  wanting  to  the  scene  but  the  great  Kublai 
Khan  of  Cathay  with  his  enormous  wealth  described 
by  Marco  Polo,  and  the  gold  for  which  the  Spaniards 


30  CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS. 

agonized,  as  a  proof  to  their  sovereign  that  they  had 
found  the  westward  passage  to  Asia. 

Imagining  that  a  great  king  must  live  in  the  centre  of 
the  island,  Columbus  sent  two  Spaniards,  Rodrigo  de 
Jerez  and  Luis  de  Torres,  a  converted  Jew  who  knew 
Hebrew,  Chaldaic,  and  Arabic,  with  two  Indians  as 
guides  to  the  supposed  monarch.  They  took  presents 
to  this  king,  and  started  on  their  will-o'-the-wisp  journey. 

After  going  twelve  leagues  a  village  of  a  thousand 
people  was  found.  The  natives  offered  them  fruits  and 
vegetables,  and  kissed  their  hands  and  feet  in  token  of 
submission  or  adoration  of  such  wonderful  beings.  The 
Spaniards  saw  no  gold  and  no  monarch ;  and,  on  their 
return,  Columbus  was  obliged  to  give  up  some  of  his 
hopes  about  Cathay  and  gold-covered  houses. 

The  natives  were  seen  to  roll  a  leaf,  and,  lighting  one 
end  of  it,  put  the  other  in  their  mouth  and  smoke  it. 
"  The  Spaniards,"  says  Irving,  "  were  struck  with  aston- 
ishment at  this  singular  and  apparently  nauseous  indul- 
gence." The  leaf  was  tobacco,  — they  called  it  tobacos,  — 
and  the  habit  of  barbarians  has  been  easily  copied  by 
civilized  men.  The  natives  said  bohio,  which  means 
house,  and  which  they  applied  to  a  populous  place  like 
Hispaniola  or  Hayti  ;  sometimes  they  said  quisqueya, 
that  is,  the  whole ;  and  Columbus,  thinking  they  meant 
the  Quinsay  (Hangchow)  of  Marco  Polo,  once  more 
started  in  his  search  for  wealth,  and  on  the  evening  of 
Dec.  6  entered  a  harbor  at  the  western  end  of  Hayti. 

The  natives  had  fled  in  terror ;  so  Columbus  sent  some 
armed  men  to  the  interior,  accompanied  by  Indian  in- 
terpreters. They  found  a  village  of  about  a  thousand 
houses,  whose  inmates  all  fled,  but  were  reassured  by 
the  interpreters,  who  told  them  that  these  strangers  were 


CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS.  31 

descended  from  the  skies,  and  went  about  making  pre- 
cious and  beautiful  presents.  A  naked  young  woman 
had  been  seized  by  the  Spaniards ;  but  Columbus  gave 
her  clothing  and  bells,  and  released  her  so  as  to  win  the 
others  to  friendliness.  Her  husband  now  came  to  the 
nine  armed  men  and  thanked  them  for  her  safe  return 
and  for  the  gifts. 

While  Columbus  was  at  Hayti  a  young  chief  visited 
him,  borne  by  four  men  on  a  sort  of  litter,  and  attended 
by  two  hundred  subjects.  The  subjects  remained  out- 
side of  Columbus's  cabin,  while  two  old  men  entered  with 
the  chief  and  sat  at  his  feet.  He  spoke  but  little,  but 
gave  the  admiral  a  Gurious  belt  and  two  pieces  of  gold, 
for  which  Columbus  in  return  presented  him  with  a  piece 
of  cloth,  several  amber  beads,  colored  shoes,  and  a  flask 
of  orange-water.  In  the  evening  he  was  sent  on  shore 
with  great  ceremony,  and  a  salute  fired  in  his  honor. 

Later  Columbus  received  a  request  from  a  greater 
chief,  Guacanagari,  that  he  would  come  with  his  ships 
to  his  part  of  the  island ;  but  as  the  wind  then  prevented, 
a  small  party  of  Spaniards  visited  him  and  were  most 
hospitably  received. 

On  the  morning  of  Dec.  24  Columbus  started  to  visit 
this  chief;  and  when  they  had  come  within  a  league 
of  his  residence,  the  sea  being  calm  and  the  admiral 
having  retired,  his  vessel,  the  Santa  Maria,  ran  upon  a 
sandbank  and  quickly  went  to  pieces.  When  the  chief 
heard  of  the  shipwreck  he  shed  tears,  sent  his  people  to 
unload  the  vessel  and  guard  the  contents,  and  his  family 
to  cheer  the  admiral,  assuring  lam  that  everything  he 
possessed  was  at  the  disposal  of  Columbus.  All  the 
crew  went  on  board  the  little  Nina,  and  later  were  enter- 
tained by  Guacanagari. 


32  CHllISTOrilER   COLUMBUS. 

He  presented  Columbus  with  a  carved  mask  of  wood, 
with,  the  eyes  and  ears  of  gold ;  and  perceiving  that  the 
eyes  of  the  Spaniards  glistened  whenever  they  saw  gold, 
he  had  all  brought  to  them  which  could  be  obtained, 
even  his  own  coronet  of  gold,  for  which  they  gave  bells, 
nails,  or  any  trifle,  though  sometimes  cloth  and  shoes. 
Columbus  wrote,  "So  loving,  so  tractable,  so  peaceable 
are  these  people,  that  I  swear  to  your  majesties  there  if 
not  in  the  world  a  better  nation,  nor  a  better  land.  They 
love  their  neighbors  as  themselves ;  and  their  discourse 
is  ever  sweet  and  gentle,  and  accompanied  with  a  smile  ; 
and  though  it  is  true  that  they  are  naked,  yet  their  man- 
ners are  decorous  and  praiseworthy."  The  Pinta  had 
apparently  deserted  —  Columbus  and  Pinzon  had  differed 
with  each  other  several  times  —  for  she  was  nowhere  to 
be  found ;  and  with  only  the  Nina,  and  winter  coming 
on,  he  deemed  it  wise  to  return  to  Spain  and  make  a 
report  to  his  sovereigns. 

The  little  vessel  could  not  hold  all  the  crew ;  and  sev- 
eral begged  to  remain,  as  the  warm  climate  and  indolent 
life  suited  them.  A  fort  was  therefore  built  from  the 
timbers  of  the  wrecked  Santa  Maria,  the  Indians  help- 
ing in  the  labor;  and  in  ten  days  La  Navidad,  or  the 
Nativity,  in  memorial  of  the  shipwreck  on  Christmas, 
was  ready  for  the  ammunition  and  stores,  enough  for  a 
year,  and  for  the  thirty-nine  who  were  to  remain.  The 
command  was  given  to  Diego  de  Arana  of  Cordova,  a 
cousin  of  Beatrix,  —  the  relatives  of  Beatrix,  and  the 
money  of  the  family,  although  not  great  in  quantity,  were 
always  at  the  service  of  Columbus. 

Warning  his  comrades  who  were  to  be  left  behind  not 
to  stray  beyond  the  friendly  country  of  Guacanagari,  to 
treat  him  with  the  greatest  respect,  and  to  gather  a  ton 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS.  33 

of  gold  in  his  absence  if  possible,  Columbus,  after  a 
sad  parting,  sailed  homeward  Jan.  4,  1403. 

After  two  days  they  came  upon  the  lost  Pinta,  Pinzon 
explaining  his  desertion  by  stress  of  weather.  He  was 
very  glad  to  return  with  the  admiral  to  Spain,  although 
a  heavy  storm  coming  up,  they  parted  company,  and  did 
not  meet  again  till  tbey  were  in  their  own  country. 

On  Feb.  12  a  violent  storm  placed  Columbus  in  so 
much  danger  in  his  open  boat  that,  fearful  lest  all 
should  be  lost,  and  no  report  of  his  discoveries  reach 
Spain,  he  wrote  on  parchment  two  accounts,  wrapped 
each  in  cloth,  then  in  a  cake  of  wax,  and  enclosed  each 
in  a  barrel.  One  was  thrown  into  the  sea,  and  the  other 
left  on  board  the  Nina,  to  float  in  case  she  should  sink. 

On  the  homeward  journey  they  were  obliged  to  put  into 
the  Azores,  where  a  party  of  five  going  to  a  little  chapel 
of  the  Virgin  to  give  thanks  for  their  deliverance  from 
shipwreck  were  seized  by  order  of  the  Portuguese  gov- 
ernor of  the  island.  They  were  finally  released,  as  such 
an  act  might  make  unpleasant  complications  with  Spain. 

A  little  later  a  storm  drove  the  Nina  on  the  coast  of 
Portugal,  and  Columbus  and  his  crew  took  refuge  in  the 
river  Tagus.  The  King  of  Portugal  sent  for  him,  received 
him  Avith  much  honor,  but  tried  to  show  that  he  had 
trespassed  upon  undiscovered  ground  granted  the  king  by 
the  Pope.  After  some  parleying  he  was  allowed  to  depart ; 
and  at  noon,  March  15,  the  Nina  entered  the  harbor  of 
Palos,  from  which  she  had  departed  seven  months 
before. 

All  business  was  suspended.  The  bells  were  rung,  and 
the  returned  Admiral  and  his  men  were  the  heroes  of  the 
time.  The  Pinta  soon  arrived,  having  been  driven  by  a 
storm  to  Bayonne,  from  whence  Pinzon  wrote  to  the  sov- 


34  CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS. 

ereigns  of  his  intended  visit  to  court.  He  kept  apart 
from  Columbus,  some  historians  say,  from  fear  of  arrest 
for  desertion,  and  died  in  his  own  house  in  Palos  not 
many  days  afterwards.  The  degree  of  nobility  was 
afterwards  conferred  upon  the  Pinzons  by  Charles  V. 

Columbus  repaired  to  Seville,  after  sending  a  letter  to 
the  sovereigns,  who  were  with  their  court  at  Barcelona. 
They  replied  at  once,  asking  him  to  repair  immediately 
to  court,  and  to  make  plans  for  a  second  expedition  to 
the  Indies. 

On  his  journey  to  Barcelona  the  people  thronged  out 
of  the  villages  to  meet  the  now  famous  discoverer.  They 
were  eager  to  see  the  six  Indians  whom  he  had  brought, 
—  of  the  ten,  one  had  died  on  the  passage,  and  three 
were  ill  at  Palos. 

About  the  middle  of  April  he  arrived  at  Barcelona, 
where  every  preparation  had  been  made  to  give  him  a 
magnificent  reception.  He  was  no  longer  the  unknown 
Italian,  begging  at  royal  doors  for  seven  years  for  aid  to 
seek  a  new  world ;  but  he  came  now  like  a  conqueror  who 
had  helped  to  make  Spain  rich  and  honored  by  his  great 
discoveries. 

At  Barcelona  the  streets  were  almost  impassable  from 
the  multitude.  First  came  the  Indians  with  their  war- 
paint, feathers,  and  ornaments  of  gold ;  then  birds,  ani- 
mals, and  plants  from  across  the  seas,  and  then  Colum- 
bus on  horseback  surrounded  by  richly  dressed  Spanish 
cavaliers. 

The  sovereigns  on  their  thrones  under  a  golden  canop}-, 
Prince  Juan  at  their  side,  attended  by  all  the  dignitaries 
of  court,  waited  to  receive  the  Admiral.  When  Colum- 
bus approached  the  sovereigns  they  arose  as  if  receiving 
a  person  of  the  highest  rank.     Bending  before  them, 


CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS.  35 

they  raised  him  graciously,  and  bade  him  seat  himself  in 
their  presence,  an  unusual  honor. 

At  their  request,  he  eloquently  described  the  lands  he 
had  found,  with  the  great  wealth  that  must  finally  come 
to  their  throne.  The  sovereigns  and  all  present  fell 
upon  their  knees,  while  the  choir  of  the  royal  chapel 
chanted  the  Te  Deuvi  laudamus.  When  Columbus  left 
the  royal  presence  all  the  court  followed  him,  as  well  as 
crowds  of  the  people. 

He  renewed  within  his  own  breast  a  vow  previously 
made,  that  with  the  money  obtained  by  these  discover- 
ies, he  would  equip  a  great  army  and  secure  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  at  Jerusalem  from  the  Turks. 

Columbus  and  his  discoveries  were  everywhere  talked 
of.  At  the  court  of  Henry  VII.  in  England  it  was  ac- 
counted a  "  thing  more  divine  than  human."  Bartholo- 
mew Columbus  had  obtained  the  consent  of  Henry  to  fit 
out  an  expedition ;  but  about  this  time  Isabella  decided 
in  its  favor,  so  the  renown  of  it  was  1  st  to  England. 

While  at  Barcelona,  Columbus  was  at  all  times  admitted 
to  the  royal  presence,  and  rode  on  horseback  on  one  side 
of  the  king,  while  Prince  Juan  rode  on  the  other.  A 
court  of  arms  was  assigned  him.  The  Grand  Cardinal 
of  Spain,  Mendoza,  made  a  banquet  for  him,  at  which  is 
said  to  have  occurred  the  incident  of  the  egg.  A  cour- 
tier asked  Columbus  if  he  had  not  discovered  the  Indies, 
whether  it  was  not  probable  some  one  else  would  have 
done  so.  The  Admiral  took  an  egg  and  asked  the  com- 
pany to  made  it  stand  on  end.  Each  one  attempted,  but 
in  vain,  when  Columbus  struck  it  upon  the  table,  break- 
ing the  end,  so  that  it  would  stand  upright,  as  much  as 
to  say,  after  he  had  shown  the  way  to  the  Indies,  others 
could  easilv  follow. 


36  CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS. 

Columbus  must  have  enjoyed  this  courtesy,  "  the  only 
unalloyed  days  of  happiness,"  says  Winsor,  "  freed  of 
anxiety,  which  he  ever  experienced." 

Men  and  means  were  not  wanting  for  the  second  voy- 
age of  Columbus.  He  did  not  need  now  to  take  crimi- 
nals and  debtors.  Bishop  Fonseca,  archdeacon  of  Seville, 
was  put  in  charge  of  Indian  affairs.  Money  was  raised 
from  the  confiscated  property  of  the  banished  Jews, 
and  five  million  maravedis  were  loaned  from  Medina- 
Sidonia.  Artillery  amassed  during  the  Moorish  wars  was 
quickly  brought  forward.  Men  of  prominent  station 
and  rich  young  Spaniards,  anxious  for  adventure,  were 
eager  to  go  in  the  ships,  besides  several  priests,  intended 
for  the  conversion  of  the  savages. 

Seventeen  vessels  were  soon  in  readiness.  Horses 
and  other  animals,  seeds,  agricultural  implements,  rice, 
and  other  things  were  provided.  About  fifteen  hundred 
persons,  though  many  had  been  refused,  were  ready  to 
sail.  Among  them  were  Diego,  a  brother  of  Columbus  ; 
the  father  and  uncle  of  the  noble  historian,  Las  Casas ; 
Juan  Ponce  de  Leon,  who  later  discovered  Florida,  and 
four  of  the  six  Indians  who  went  to  Barcelona.  The 
latter  had  been  baptized,  with  the  king  and  queen  as 
godfather  and  godmother. 

All  was  now  ready  for  the  second  voyage.  It  could 
not  of  course  be  like  the  first.  That,  as  Mr.  Fiske 
well  says,  is  "a  unique  event  in  the  history  of  man- 
hood. Nothing  like  it  was  ever  done  before,  and  noth- 
ing like  it  can  ever  be  done  again.  No  worlds  are  left 
for  a  future  Columbus  to  conquer.  The  era  of  which 
this  great  Italian  mariner  was  the  most  illustrious  repre- 
sentative has  closed  forever." 

The  vessels  sailed  on  the  morning  of  Sept.  25,  1493, 


CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS.  37 

from  the  bay  of  Cadiz,  and  after  an  uneventful  voyage 
reached  land  Nov.  3,  discovering  several  islands,  Domin- 
ica, Marie-Galante,  Guadaloupe,  Antigua,  and  Porto  Rico. 
The  natives  fled  in  terror  from  the  Spaniards,  even  leav- 
ing their  children  behind  them  in  their  flight.  These 
the  Spaniards  soothed  with  bells  and  other  trinkets.  ' 

Their  houses  were  made  of  trunks  of  trees  interwoven 
with  reeds  and  thatched  with  palm-leaves.  There  were 
many  geese,  like  those  of  Europe,  great  parrots,  and  an 
abundance  of  pineapples.  The  natives  were  cannibals 
and  ate  their  prisoners.  Their  arrows  were  pointed  with 
fish-bones,  poisoned  by  the  juice  of  an  herb. 

On  Nov.  22  the  ships  arrived  off  the  eastern  part  of 
Hayti,  or  Hispaniola.  As  some  of  the  mariners  were 
going  along  the  coast,  they  found  on  the  banks  of  a 
stream  the  bodies  of  a  man  and  boy,  the  former  with 
a  cord  of  Spanish  grass  about  his  neck,  and  his  arms  ex- 
tended and  tied  to  a  stake  in  the  form  of  a  cross.  They 
at  once  feared  that  evil  had  befallen  Arana  and  his  gar- 
rison of  thirty-nine  men  at  La  Navidad,  whom  they  had 
left  the  previous  Christmas,  eleven  months  before. 

When  they  reached  the  fortress  nothing  was  left  of 
it.  Broken  utensils  and  torn  clothes  were  scattered  in 
the  grass.  They  found  the  graves  of  the  men,  long  since 
dead,  for  the  grass  was  growing  over  the  mounds. 

Columbus  soon  heard  the  story  of  their  ruin.  The 
thirty-nine  men  in  the  fortress  began  to  quarrel  among 
themselves  after  the  departure  of  the  Admiral,  stole  the 
wives  and  daughters  of  the  Indians,  and  several  of  them 
went  into  the  interior  of  the  island  ruled  by  Caonabo, 
a  renowned  chief  of  the  Caribs  or  Cannibals.  These 
Caonabo  at  once  put  to  death,  and  then  marched  against 
the  fort,  and  in  the  dead  of  night  destroyed  all  the  in- 

447317 


38  CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS. 

mates.  Guacanagari  and  his  subjects  fought  for  their 
guests,  those  in  the  fortress  having  been  intrusted  to  the 
care  of  the  Indian  chief  by  Columbus,  but  were  overpow- 
ered, the  chief  wounded,  and  his  village  burnt  to  the 
ground.  All  this  was  disheartening  to  the  young  cava- 
liers who  had  come  to  find  wealth  and  happiness. 

It  soon  became  necessary  to  begin  another  town,  as 
the  cattle,  as  well  as  men,  were  suffering  from  confine- 
ment on  shipboard.  Early  in  December  streets  were 
laid  out,  a  church,  storehouse,  and  house  for  the  Admiral 
built  of  stone,  and  the  town  of  Isabella  was  established 
on  the  northern  shore  of  Hayti,  in  the  new  world. 

In  a  short  time  half  the  fifteen  hundred  persons  who 
came  from  Spain  were  ill.  They  were  not  used  to  labor  ; 
the  country  was  malarious;  they  were  disappointed  and 
lonely,  and  this  condition  of  mind  wore  upon  their 
bodies.  They  had  all  hoped  for  gold,  and  there  was 
none  at  hand,  nor  any  prospect  of  wealth. 

Columbus  decided  that,  as  he  had  heard  there  were 
gold  mines  in  Cibao,  even  though  it  was  in  Caonabo's 
country,  the  place  must  be  visited.  He  therefore  sent  a 
daring  young  cavalier,  Alonso  de  Ojeda,  with  a  well- 
armed  force,  to  investigate  the  matter.  He  returned 
with  glowing  accounts  of  gold-dust  in  the  streams  and 
with  a  nugget  of  gold  weighing  nine  ounces.  Others 
found  gold  in  other  localities,  and  the  hopes  of  the 
Spaniards  were  revived.  It  became  so  evident  that 
gold  was  what  the  discoverers  desired  that  the  natives 
called  it  "  the  Christians'  God." 

Provisions  began  to  grow  scarce  for  so  many  persons ; 
medicine,  clothing,  horses,  workmen,  and  arms  were 
needed ;  so  twelve  ships  were  sent  back  to  Spain,  with 
several  men,   women,  and   children   from  the   cannibal 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS.  39 

Caribbee  islands,  who,  while  they  were  to  be  converted 
to  Christianity,  were  to  be  sold  as  slaves  according  to 
the  suggestion  of  Columbus,  and  the  money  used  to  buy 
cattle.  It  seems  strange  that  such  a  religious  man  as 
Columbus,  who  was  looking  forward  to  spending  his 
wealth  to  recover  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  should  have  sug- 
gested human  slavery,  or,  rather,  it  would  seem  strange, 
had  we  not  in  America  witnessed  so  many  Christians, 
both  North  and  South,  upholding  the  slave-trade  in 
this  enlightened  nineteenth  century.  It  behooves  us  to 
be  lenient  toward  the  fifteenth  century. 

Isabella,  to  her  honor  be  it  said,  would  not  consent  to 
the  cannibals  being  sold  as  slaves,  but  ordered  that  they 
should  be  converted  like  the  rest  of  the  Indians. 

After  the  fleet  had  sailed  to  Spain,  many  of  the  men 
left  behind  became  melancholy  and  discontented,  and  a 
faction  determined  to  take  some  of  the  remaining  ships 
and  return  home.  They  were  discovered  and  punished? 
but  an  ill-feeling  was  created  towards  Columbus  which 
was  never  overcome. 

In  March,  1494,  leaving  his  brother  Diego  in  charge 
of  the  town,  Columbus  started  with  four  hundred  men, 
including  miners  and  carpenters,  horses  and  fire-arms, 
to  the.  mountains  of  Cibao,  as  he  could  not  much  longer 
abstain  from  sending  back  to  the  monarchs  the  continu- 
ally promised  gold  of  Cathay.  The  men  sallied  forth 
with  much  display,  so  as  to  impress  the  neighboring 
Indians. 

The  way  thither  was  steep  and  difficult,  across  rivers 
and  glens,  till  they  reached  the  top  of  the  mountains, 
about  eighteen  leagues  from  the  settlement.  Near  by  he 
erected  a  wooden  fortress.  At  first  the  natives  tied  at 
their  approach,  fearing  especially  the  horses;  but  later 


40  CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS. 

they  came  and  brought  food  and  gold-dust,  and  assured 
him  that  farther  on  —  somewhere  —  were  masses  of  ore 
as  large  as  a  child's  head.  The  Admiral  told  them,  as 
ever,  that  anything  would  be  given  in  exchange  for  gold. 

Columbus  was  surprised  to  find  that  the  natives  of 
Hayti  had  a  religion  of  their  own.  They  believed  in  one 
supreme  being,  who  was  immortal  and  omnipotent,  with  a 
mother,  but  no  father.  They  employed  inferior  deities, 
called  Zemes,  as  messengers  to  him.  Each  chief  had  a 
house  in  which  was  an  image  in  wood  or  stone  of  his 
Zemi,  and  each  family  had  a  particular  Zemi,  or  protec- 
tor. Their  bodies  were  often  painted  or  tattoed  with 
figures  of  these  gods.  Besides  the  Zemes,  each  chief 
had  three  idols,  which  were  held  in  great  reverence. 

They  believed  that  the  sun  and  moon  issued  from  a 
cavern  on  their  island,  and  that  mankind  issued  from 
another  cavern.  For  a  long  time  there  were  no  women 
on  the  island;  but  seeing  four  among  the  branches  of 
trees,  they  endeavored  to  catch  them,  but  found  them 
slippery  as  eels.  Some  men  with  rough  hands  were 
engaged  to  catch  them,  and  succeeded. 

They  had  a  singular  idea  about  the  Flood.  A  great 
chief  on  the  island  slew  his  son  for  conspiring  against 
him.  He  put  the  bones  of  his  son  into  a  gourd,  and  one 
day  when  he  opened  the  gourd  many  fishes  leaped  out. 
Four  brothers  heard  of  this  gourd,  and  came  and  opened 
it  secretly.  They  carelessly  let  it  fall,  when  great  whales 
sprang  out  and  sharks,  and  a  mighty  flood  covered 
the  earth,  so  that  the  islands  are  only  the  tops  of  the 
mountains. 

When  a  chief  was  dying  he  was  strangled,  so  that 
he  should  not  die  like  common  people.  Others  were 
stretched  in  ham  mocks,  with  bread  and  water  at  their 
heads,  and  abandoned  to  die 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS.  41 

When  the  new  fortress,  St.  Thomas,  was  nearly  built, 
Columbus  left  it  in  charge  of  Pedro  Margarite,  a  Cata- 
lonian,  and  returned  to  Isabella.  Here  he  found  more 
discontent  and  sickness  than  before.  As  food  was  grow- 
ing scarce,  and  there  was  no  method  of  grinding  corn  but 
a  hand-mill,  he  began  at  once  to  erect  a  mill,  and  com- 
pelled the  young  hidalgos,  or  men  of  high  blood,  to  work. 
This  produced  more  bitterness  than  ever;  for  they  had 
not  come  hither  to  a  new  country  to  labor,  but  to  pick  up 
gold  at  their  leisure.  Their  pride  was  wounded ;  lack  of 
accustomed  food  and  unusual  bodily  labor  soon  told  on 
luxurious  idlers,  and  great  numbers  sank  into  their  graves, 
cursing  the  day  on  which  they  set  sail  for  the  Indies. 
Years  after,  when  the  place  was  deserted,  it  was  believed 
that  two  rows  of  phantom  hidalgos,  richly  apparelled, 
walked  the  solitary  streets,  and  disappeared  at  the  ap- 
proach of  the  living. 

To  quiet  his  own  people  and  to  overawe  Caonabo,  or  any 
other  hostile  chief,  Columbus  sent  Ojeda  to  take  charge 
of  St.  Thomas,  and  about  four  hundred  armed  men  to 
march  into  the  interior  under  Pedro  Margarite,  who  had 
been  left  at  St.  Thomas.  Margarite  was  charged  to  be 
just  to  the  natives,  but  if  they  refused  to  sell  provisions 
to  compel  the  in.  but  in  as  kindly  a  manner  as  possible. 
Caonabo  and  his  brothers,  because  the  former  was  feared 
by  the  colonists,  were  to  be  surprised  and  secured  if  pos- 
sible, notwithstanding  that  they  were  defending  their 
own  country  from  intruders. 

Columbus  having  settled,  as  he  hoped,  his  turbulent 
comrades,  made  a  voyage  to  Cuba  early  in  April,  1494. 
Inquiring,  as  usual,  of  the  people  for  gold,  they  always 
pointed  to  the  south.  Columbus  sailed  on,  and  finally 
discovered  Jamaica.     As   they  approached  the  land,  as 


42  CURISTOPIIEll    COLUMBUS. 

many  as  seventy  canoes  filled  with  Indians,  painted  and 
adorned  with  feathers,  uttered  loud  cries  and  brandished 
their  pointed  wooden  lances.  They  were  quieted  by  the 
Indian  interpreters.  At  another  time  the  Spaniards 
fired  upon  them  and  let  loose  a  cruel  bloodhound. 

Not  finding  gold  in  Jamaica,  as  he  had  hoped,  Columbus 
returned  to  Cuba,  and  ran  along  its  shore  for  three  hun- 
dred and  thirty-five  leagues.  He  discovered  many  small 
islands,  a  lovely  country,  more  kindly  natives  than  be- 
fore, who  told  him  that  toward  the  west  lay  the  prov- 
ince of  Man  go n — he  was  sure  this  was  Marco  Polo's 
Mangi,  or  Southern  China  —  and  would  have  gone  farther 
but  the  crew  insisted  upon  his  return.  So  sure  were 
they  all  that  this  was  Asia  that  all  agreed  under  oath 
that  if  any  should  hereafter  contradict  this  opinion,  he 
should  have  his  tongue  cut  out,  and  receive  a  hundred 
lashes  if  a  sailor,  and  pay  ten  thousand  maravedis  if  tan 
officer.  And  yet  they  could  not  help  wondering  why 
they  did  not  find  the  rich  cities  of  Marco  Polo.  Colum- 
bus, worn  with  the  fatigues  and  anxieties  of  five  months 
of  cruising,  suddenly  fell  into  a  lethargy  like  death,  and 
in  this  condition  of  insensibility  he  was  borne  into  the 
harbor  of  Isabella,  Sept.  29,  1494. 

On  regaining  consciousness,  he  found  his  brother  Bar- 
tholomew at  his  bedside.  After  the  return  of  the  latter 
from  Henry  VII.  of  England,  to  whom  he  had  gone  for 
aid  in  behalf  of  Christopher,  some  years  before,  and 
been  captured  by  pirates,  he  found  that  his  brother 
had  discovered  the  Indies,  and  had  gone  on  his  second 
voyage.  He  repaired  to  the  Spanish  court,  where  he  was 
cordially  received,  and  fitted  out  by  the  sovereigns  with 
three  ships  filled  with  supplies  for  his  brother. 

Columbus  was  overjoyed  to  see  Bartholomew,  a  man 


CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS.  43 

of  much  decision  and  knowledge  of  the  sea,  and  quite 
well  educated,  lie  immediately  made  Bartholomew 
adelantado,  an  office  equivalent  to  that  of  lieutenant- 
governor. 

Meantime  Pedro  Margarite,  who  had  been  told  to  make 
a  military  tour  of  Hayti,  was  in  serious  trouble.  The 
island  was  divided  into  five  domains,  each  ruled  by  a 
chief.  It  was  thickly  populated,  some  authorities  say 
with  a  million  people. 

Instead  of  making  a  tour  of  the  country,  he  and  his 
indolent  followers  lingered  in  the  fertile  regions  near 
by,  and  lived  on  the  provisions  furnished  by  the  Indians, 
which  they  could  ill  afford  to  spare.  The  Spaniards  took 
the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  inhabitants,  and  con- 
stant quarrels  resulted. 

Margarite,  being  of  an  old  family,  spoke  with  con- 
tempt of  Diego  Columbus,  left  in  charge  at  Isabella,  and 
also  of  the  Admiral.  Margarite  drew  to  his  side  those 
already  disaffected  toward  Columbus,  and,  seizing  some 
ships  which  were  lying  in  the  harbor,  set  sail  for  Spain. 
At  court  they  represented  that  Hispaniola  was  a  con- 
stant pecuniary  drain  upon  the  sovereigns,  rather  than 
a  source  of  income,  for  Ferdinand  was  more  anxious 
even  than  Columbus  to  secure  gold  for  his  coffers ;  and 
they  poisoned  the  mind  of  Fonseca,  already  somewhat 
at  enmity  with  Columbus  concerning  the  so-called 
tyrannies  of  the  Admiral.  Perhaps  the  real  trouble  was 
that  Columbus  was  not  severe  enough  with  this  idle 
and  sensual  set,  who  wished  to  get  rich  without  labor. 

The  soldiers  whom  Margarite  left  behind  him  without  a 
leader  were  more  lawless  than  before.  One  of  the  chiefs, 
exasperated  by  their  conduct,  put  to  death  ten  of  them 
who  had  injured  his  people,  and  set  fire  to  a  house  where 


44  CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS. 

forty-six  Spaniards  were  lodged.  The  Indians  were  be- 
ginning to  find  out  that  these  people  had  not  come  to 
their  country  from  heaven. 

Caonabo,  an  intelligent  and  able  warrior,  who  from 
the  first  had  felt  that  harm  would  come  to  his  people 
unless  these  white  men  could  be  driven  out,  determined 
to  destroy  St.  Thomas,  as  La  ISTavidad  had  been  destroyed. 

But  he  had  a  very  brave  young  officer  to  deal  with, 
Alonso  de  Ojeda,  who  was  a  favorite  of  Medina-Celi,  and 
had  fought  in  the  Moorish  wars.  He  always  carried  a 
picture  of  the  Virgin  with  him,  and  believed  that  she 
protected  him. 

Caonabo  assembled  ten  thousand  warriors,  armed  with 
bows  and  arrows,  clubs  and  lances,  and  came  out  before 
the  fortress,  hoping  to  surprise  the  garrison  ;  but  Ojeda 
was  ready  to  meet  him.  Caonabo  then  decided  to  starve 
them  by  investing  every  pass.  For  thirty  days  the  siege 
was  maintained,  and  famine  stared  the  Spaniards  in  the 
face. 

Ojeda  made  many  sorties  from  the  fort,  and  killed 
several  of  the  foremost  warriors,  until  Caonabo,  weary  of 
the  siege,  and  admiring  the  bravery  of  Ojeda,  retired 
from  the  fort.  The  chief  now  determined  to  invite  the 
other  chiefs  of  the  island  to  help  despoil  Isabella;  but  Gua- 
canagari,  the  friendly  chief,  opposed  th  plan,  and  kept, 
at  his  own  expense,  one  hundred  of  the  suffering  Spanish 
soldiers.  This  incensed  Caonabo  and  his  brother-in-law, 
Behechio,  who  together  killed  one  of  Guacanagari's  wives, 
carried  another  away  captive,  and  invaded  his  territory 
with  their  army.  The  friendly  chief  at  once  reported 
the  plan  to  destroy  Isabella  to  the  Admiral. 

Ojeda  offered  to  take  Caonabo  by  stratagem  and  deliver 
him  alive  into  the  hands  of  Columbus.     Taking  ten  bold 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS.  45 

followers,  he  made  his  way  through  the  forests  to  the 
home  of  Caonabo,  sixty  leagues  from  St.  Thomas.  Ojeda 
paid  great  deference  to  the  chief,  and  told  him  he  had 
brought  a  valuable  present  from  his  Admiral. 

Caonabo  received  the  young  Spaniard  with  great  cour- 
tesy. The  latter  asked  the  Indian  chief  to  go  to  Isabella 
to  make  a  treaty  of  peace,  to  which  he  consented,  prepar- 
ing to  take  a  large  body  of  men  with  him.  To  this 
Ojeda  demurred,  as  useless,  but  the  inarch  began. 

Having  halted  on  the  journey,  Ojeda  showed  the  chief 
a  set  of  steel  manacles  resembling  silver,  and  assured 
him  that  these  came  from  heaven,  were  worn  by  the 
monarchs  of  Castile  in  solemn  dances,  and  that  they  were 
a  present  to  the  chief.  He  proposed  that  the  chief 
should  bathe  and  then  put  on  these  ornaments,  and 
mounting  Ojeda's  horse,  thus  equipped,  surprise  his 
subjects. 

He  was  pleased  with  the  idea  of  riding  upon  a  horse, 
the  animal  which  his  countrymen  so  much  feared  would 
eat  them.  Mounting  behind  Ojeda  on  horseback,  the 
manacles  were  adjusted,  and  Ojeda  and  the  chief,  with 
the  rest  of  the  horsemen,  rode  before  the  Indians,  to 
show  them  how  the  steeds  could  prance.  Then  Ojeda 
dashed  into  the  woods,  his  followers  closed  around  him, 
and  at  the  point  of  the  sword  threatened  Caonabo  with 
instant  death  if  he  made  the  least  noise.  He  was  bound 
with  cords  to  Ojeda  so  that  he  could  not  fall  off,  and, 
putting  spurs  to  their  horses,  they  started  towards 
Isabella. 

They  passed  through  the  Indian  towns  at  full  gallop, 
and,  tired  and  hungry,  arrived  after  some  days  at  the 
Spanish  settlement. 

Columbus  ordered  that  the  haughty  chieftain  should 


46  CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS. 

be  treated  with  kindness  and  respect,  and  kept  him  in 
chains  in  his  own  house.  Caonabo  always  had  admira- 
tion for  Ojeda,  and  would  rise  to  greet  him,  but  never 
for  Columbus,  as  he  said  the  latter  never  dared  to  come 
personally  to  his  house  and  seize  him. 

Caonabo's  subjects  were  much  cast  down  at  the  loss  of 
their  chief,  and  one  of  his  brothers  raised  an  army  of 
seven  thousand  against  St.  Thomas.  They  were  scat- 
tered by  the  dashing  Ojeda,  and  the  brother  of  Caonabo 
was  taken  prisoner. 

In  the  autumn  of  1494  Antonio  Torres  arrived  from 
Spain  with  four  ships  filled  with  supplies,  and  kind  letters 
from  the  sovereigns  to  Columbus.  The  Admiral  deemed 
it  wise  that  these  ships  return  as  soon  as  possible,  so  as 
to  counteract  any  reports  made  by  Margarite  and  his 
men.  To  make  up  for  the  lack  of  gold  —  the  ship  car- 
ried all  he  could  possibly  gather  —  he  sent  home,  in  op- 
position to  the  expressed  wishes  of  Isabella,  five  hundred 
Indians  to  be  sold  as  slaves  in  the  markets  of  Seville. 

It  is  true  that  both  Spaniards  and  Portuguese  made 
large  profits  from  the  African  slave  trade ;  that  the 
Moors,  men,  women,  and  children,  by  the  thousands,  were 
sold  into  cruel  bondage,  and  Columbus  but  followed  the 
dreadful  example  of  his  age.  He  had  held  out  such  high 
hopes  of  gold  from  this  probable  Cathay,  there  was  such 
discontent  already  at  his  meagre  returns,  that  he  allowed 
his  conscience  to  be  hardened,  if,  indeed,  he  had  any 
scruples  about  the  matter. 

Not  so  Isabella.  While,  like  others  of  her  time,  intol- 
erant of  heretics,  she  felt  deeply  interested  in  this  gentle 
and  hospitable  new-found  race.  Five  days  after  royal 
orders  had  been  issued  for  their  sale,  the  order  was  sus- 
pended through  Isabella's  influence,  until  the  sovereigns 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS.  47 

could  inquire  why  these  Indians  had  been  made  prison- 
ers, and  to  consult  learned  theologians  as  to  whether 
their  sale  would  be  right  in  the  sight  of  God.  Much 
difference  of  opinion  was  expressed  by  the  divines,  when. 
Isabella  took  the  matter  into  her  own  hands,  gave  orders 
that  they  should  be  returned  to  the  island  of  Hayti,  and 
that  all  the  islanders  should  be  treated  in  the  gentlest 
manner. 

Another  brother  of  Caonabo  had  raised  a  hostile  army, 
said  by  some  to  have  numbered  one  hundred  thousand, 
aided  by  Anacaona,  the  favorite  wife  of  Caonabo,  and 
her  brother  Behechio,  against  the  town  of  Isabella.  Co- 
lumbus at  once  prepared  to  meet  them  with  all  the  men 
and  arms  at  his  command,  and  twenty  fierce  blood- 
hounds. 

A  battle  was  fought  in  the  latter  part  of  March,  1495, 
when  the  Indians  were  completely  routed,  the  blood- 
hounds seizing  them  by  the  throat,  and  tearing  them  in 
pieces,  and  the  horses  trampling  them  to  the  earth. 

Columbus,  still  eager  for  wealth  for  Spain,  now  laid 
a  heavy  tribute  upon  all  the  conquered  Indians.  Those 
chiefs  nearth.  mines  were  required  to  furnish  a  hawk's- 
bill  of  gold-dust  every  three  months,  — about  fifteen  dol- 
lars of  our  money,  Irving  thinks.  Those  distant  from 
the  mines  were  obliged  to  furnish  twenty-five  pounds  of 
cotton  every  three  months.  One  of  the  chiefs,  because 
he  could  not  furnish  the  gold,  offered  to  cultivate  a  large 
tract  of  land  for  Columbus,  which  offer  was  rejected, 
because  gold  alone  would  satisfy  Spain.  The  Admiral 
finally  lowered  the  amount  to  half  a  hawk's-bill. 

To  enforce  these  measures  he  built  fortresses,  and  the 
Indians,  unused  to  labor,  soon  found  themselves  slaves 
in  their  own  land.     They  hunted  the  streams  for  gold, 


48  CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS. 

and  obtained  little.  With  pitiful  simplicity  they  asked 
the  Spaniards  when  they  were  going  to  return  to  heaven  ! 

Finally  they  agreed  among  themselves  to  leave  their 
homes  and  go  into  the  mountains  and  hidden  caverns, 
where  they  could  subsist  on  roots,  and  let  their  hated 
task-masters  toil  for  themselves.  But  the  Spaniards 
pursued  them  and  made  them  return  to  their  labors. 

The  friendly  chief,  Guacanagari,  hated  by  his  neighbor- 
ing territories  on  account  of  his  kindness  to  Columbus, 
blamed  by  his  suffering  and  overworked  subjects,  unable 
himself  to  pay  the  tribute,  took  refuge  in  the  mountains, 
and  died  in  want  and  obscurity. 

As  matters  were  going  on  so  badly  in  the  Indies,  the 
sovereign  sent  out  Juan  Aguado  towards  the  last  of 
August,  1495,  on  a  mission  of  inquiry.  He  took  out  four 
ships,  well  filled  with  supplies.  Aguado,  like  many 
others,  seems  to  have  been  unduly  exalted  with  a  little 
power  conferred  upon  him,  and  when  he  arrived  at  Isa- 
bella, acted  as  though  he  were  the  governor.  The  dis- 
affected sided  with  him,  and  even  the  Indians  were  glad 
of  a  change  of  power,  hoping  against  hope  for  a  better- 
ment of  their  condition. 

When  Aguado  was  ready  to  return  to  Spain,  a  fearful 
storm  destroyed  all  his  ships ;  but  a  new  one  was  built, 
in  which  he  returned,  and  Columbus  at  the  same  time 
went  back  in  the  Nina  to  lay  his  own  side  of  the  case 
before  the  sovereigns.  With  them  returned  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  sick,  idle,  disappointed  adventur- 
ers, besides  thirty  Indians  including  Caonabo.  He  died 
on  the  voyage  of  a  broken  spirit. 

On  this  voyage  the  winds  were  against  them,  so  that 
with  the  delay  their  food  became  so  scarce  that  Irving 
says  it  was  proposed  to  kill  and  eat  the  Indians,  or  throw 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS.  49 

them  into  the  sea  to  make  less  mouths  to  feed.  This 
Columbus  sternly  forbade.  After  three  months,  June 
11,  149G,  they  reached  the  harbor  of  Cadiz.  They  were 
not  the  joyous  adventurers  who  went  out  almost  three 
years  before.  Columbus  himself  wore  a  robe  girdled 
with  a  cord  of  the  Franciscans,  so  dejected  was  he  in 
spirit. 

Columbus  soon  learned  the  state  of  feeling  towards 
himself  in  Spain,  and  felt  more  than  ever  that  he  must 
make  the  Indies  of  profit  to  the  Spanish  treasury.  He 
repaired  to  the  court  in  July,  and  was  treated  with 
much  courtesy  and  cordiality.  The  monarchs  were  too 
greatly  absorbed  in  preparations  for  the  marriage  of 
Juana  with  Philip  of  Austria,  and  of  Philip's  sister 
Margarita  with  Prince  Juan,  to  do  anything  just  then 
toward  fitting  out  a  third  expedition.  An  armada  of 
one  hundred  ships  with  twenty  thousand  persons  on 
board  was  sent  to  take  out  Juana  to  Flanders,  and 
to  bring  back  Margarita.  Besides,  the  sovereigns  were 
maintaining  a  large  army  in  Italy  to  help  the  king  of 
Naples  in  recovering  his  throne  from  Charles  VIII. 
of  France,  and  had  many  squadrons  elsewhere. 

In  the  autumn  six  millions  of  maravedis  were  ordered 
to  be  given  to  Columbus,  but  just  about  that  time  Pedro 
Alonzo  Nino  sent  word  to  the  court  that  he  had  arrived 
with  a  great  amount  of  gold  on  his  three  ships  from 
Hispaniola.  Ferdinand  was  rejoiced  to  keep  the  six 
million  maravedis  to  repair  a  fortress,  and  ordered  Nino 
to  pay  the  gold  to  Columbus.  When  Nino  arrived  at 
court  it  was  found  that  his  vaunted  gold  was  another 
crowd  of  Indians  brought  over  to  be  sold  as  slaves. 

When  the  spring  came  the  wedding  of  Prince  Juan 
was  celebrated  with  great  splendor  at  Burgos,  and  then 


50  CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS. 

Isabella  turned  her  interest  toward  Columbus,  she  alone 
being  concerned,  for  the  king  began  to  look  coldly  on 
him,  and  the  royal  counsellors  were  his  enemies.  The 
queen  allowed  him  to  entail  his  estates,  so  that  they 
might  always  descend  with  his  titles  of  nobility.  She 
granted  him  three  hundred  and  thirty  persons  in  royal 
pay,  and  he  might  increase  the  number  to  five  hundred. 
He  was  also  authorized  to  grant  land  to  all  such  as 
wished  to  cultivate  vineyards  or  sugar  plantations  on 
condition  that  they  should  reside  on  the  island  for  four 
years  after  such  grant. 

It  was  fortunate  for  Columbus  that  Isabella  was  his 
friend,  for  he  seemed  to  have  few  others,  so  easy  is  it 
for  the  world  to  follow  the  successful,  and  to  decry  the 
unsuccessful.  No  person  seemed  to  wish  to  go  on  this 
third  voyage,  or  to  furnish  ships.  Finally,  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  Columbus,  criminals  sentenced  to  the  mines, 
or  galleys,  or  banishment,  were  allowed  to  go  to  the  New 
World  instead,  and  work  without  pay.  A  general  par- 
don was  offered  to  scoundrels  ;  those  who  had  committed 
crimes  worthy  of  death  should  remain  two  years  ;  lighter 
crimes,  one  year.  There  could  scarcely  have  been  a 
worse  plan. 

While  matters  dragged  along,  Isabella's  only  son, 
Prince  Juan,  died,  overwhelming  her  with  grief  for  the 
remainder  of  her  days.  Yet  she  still  thought  of  Colum- 
bus, and  out  of  her  own  funds  set  apart  for  her  daughter 
Isabella,  betrothed  to  Emanuel,  King  of  Portugal,  sent 
two  ships  with  supplies.  The  two  sons  of  Columbus 
who  had  been  pages  to  the  prince  she  took  into  her  own 
service. 

So  long  was  everything  delayed  that  Columbus  would 
have  given  up  any  further  discovery  except  for  his  feel- 


CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS.  51 

ings  of  gratitude  to  the  queen  and  his  desire  to  cheer 
her  in  her  afflictions. 

Finally  the  six  ships  were  ready,  when  in  a  moment 
of  loss  of  self-control,  Columbus  allowed  his  temper  to 
work  great  injury  to  him.  He  knocked  down  an  inso- 
lent man  who  annoyed  him,  and  kicked  him  after  he 
was  down.  He  regretted  it,  but  paid  dearly  for  it,  as  do 
others  who  fail  to  control  their  tempers.  The  sovereigns 
naturally  believed  that  some  of  the  stories  about  his 
severity  in  the  Indies  were  true ;  and  Las  Casas  attrib- 
uted the  humiliating  measures  toward  Columbus,  which 
soon  followed,  to  this  one  unmanly  act. 

On  May  30,  1498,  Columbus  set  sail  with  six  vessels 
from  San  Lucar  de  Barrameda,  on  his  third  voyage. 
Three  of  these  vessels  he  despatched  directly  to  Hayti 
with  supplies,  one  being  commanded  by  Pedro  de  Arana, 
the  brother  of  Beatrix. 

With  the  other  three  he  sailed  to  the  Cape  de  Verde 
islands,  off  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  then  as  the  heat  of 
the  tropics  became  almost  unbearable,  the  tar  in  the 
seams  of  the  ship  inciting  and  causing  leakage,  and  the 
meat  and  wine  becoming  spoiled,  he  changed  his  course 
due  west  and  finally  reached  an  island  off  the  coast  of 
South  America,  which  he  called  Trinidad,  in  honor  of 
the  Trinity. 

He  was  surprised  to  find  such  verdure  and  fertility. 
While  coasting  the  island,  Columbus  beheld  toward  the 
South,  land  intersected  by  the  branches  of  the  Orinoco, 
not  dreaming  that  it  was  a  continent. 

He  tried  to  allure  the  natives  on  board  by  friendly 
signs,  a  display  of  looking-glasses  and  the  like  ;  but  find- 
ing these  of  no  avail,  though  they  looked  on  in  wonder 
for    about   two   hours   with  their    oars    in    their    hands, 


52  CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS. 

Columbus  tried  the  power  of  music,  at  which  the  Indians, 
thinking  this  an  indication  of  hostility,  discharged  a 
shower  of  arrows.  This  was  returned  by  the  cross-bows 
of  the  Spaniards,  when  they  immediately  fled. 

Columbus  sailed  into  the  Gulf  of  Paria,  supposing  it 
to  be  the  open  sea,  and  was  surprised  to  find  the  water 
fresh.  The  entrance  between  Trinidad  and  the  main 
land  he  called,  from  the  fury  of  the  water,  the  Serpent's 
Mouth,  and  the  opposite  pass  the  Dragon'-s  Mouth. 

He  soon  discovered  Margarita  and  Cubagua,  afterwards 
famous  for  pearls.  He  procured  about  three  pounds  of 
pearls  for  bells  and  broken  pieces  of  plates  —  Valencia 
ware  —  which  pearls  he  sent  to  the  sovereigns  as  speci- 
mens of  the  untold  wealth  of  the  new  lands. 

Columbus  was  now  so  afflicted  by  a  disease  in  his  eyes 
from  constant  watching  and  sleeplessness  that  he  was 
almost  blind,  and  he  had  also  a  very  severe  attack  of 
gout  with  intense  suffering,  which  emaciated  him  greatly. 
His  food  supplies,  too,  were  nearly  exhausted,  so  it  was 
necessary  for  him  to  reach  San  Domingo  on  the  southern 
coast  of  Hispaniola  as  soon  as  possible.  He  arrived 
Aug.  30,  1498. 

Sad  things  had  happened  during  his  absence  of  more 
than  two  years.  The  people  at  Isabella  were  nearly 
starving  for  lack  of  food.  Some  were  ill,  but  most  were 
too  much  opposed  to  labor  to  cultivate  the  fields.  War 
had  broken  out  afresh  with  the  Indians,  and  there  was 
mutiny  among  the  Spaniards. 

The  three  vessels  which  he  had  sent  directly  to  His- 
paniola, while  he  retained  three  for  discovery,  had  been 
deceived  by  Francisco  Eoldan,  who  had  been  made  judge 
of  the  island  by  the  Admiral.  Roldan  told  the  captains  of 
the  three  vessels,  that  he  was  in  that  part  of  the  island 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS.  53 

taking  tribute,  and  helped  himself  to  all  he  wished. 
Many  of  the  men  on  board,  being  criminals  forced  into 
the  service,  joined  him  in  his  mutiny.  When  the  ships 
arrived  in  port  what  remained  of  their  provisions  was 
nearly  spoiled. 

Columbus,  seeing  so  much  disaffection,  issued  a  proc- 
lamation that  all  who  wished  could  go  to  Spain  in  five 
vessels  about  to  return.  The  vessels  lay  in  the  harbor 
eighteen  days,  while  Columbus  was  negotiating  with  the 
rebels.  The  Indian  prisoners  on  board  were  suffering 
from  heat  and  hunger,  and  many  died ;  some  were  suffo- 
cated with  heat  in  the  holds  of  the  vessels.  When  the 
ships  returned  Columbus  wrote  letters  to  the  sovereigns 
about  the  rebellion,  and  Roldan  wrote  letters  also. 

After  much  writing  and  sending  of  messages  —  Colum- 
bus did  not  dare  resort  to  arms  as  Roldan's  party  was  so 
strong —  it  was  agreed  that  Roldan  and  his  followers 
should  return  to  Spain.  This  they  refused  to  do  later, 
and  would  only  make  peace  on  condition  that  Roldan 
should  be  again  chief  judge  of  the  island,  have  large 
grants  of  land  made  to  him  and  his  followers,  and  that 
it  should  be  proclaimed  that  everything  charged  against 
him  and  his  party  had  been  on  false  testimony.  To 
such  humiliating  concessions  Columbus  was  obliged  to 
submit. 

Roldan  resumed  his  office  of  chief  judge,  and  was 
more  insolent  than  ever.  He  demanded  much  land 
and  many  Indian  slaves.  Columbus  now  granted  to  all 
colonists  who  would  remain,  Indian  slaves,  and  each 
chief  was  required  to  furnish  free  Indians  to  help  cul- 
tivate the  lands.  Thus  the  cruel  system  of  rejxtrthnien- 
tos,  or  distribution  of  free  Indians  among  the  colonists, 
began,  a  measure  which  led  to  the  most  cruel  overwork 


54  CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS. 

and  suffering,  and  in  the  end  annihilated  the  rightful 
owners  of  the  soil. 

Damaging  reports  of  the  condition  of  the  colonists 
and  the  inability  of  Columbus  to  control  the  mutinous 
set,  had  reached  the  crown.  They  therefore  sent  Don 
Francisco  de  Bobadilla,  an  officer  of  the  royal  household, 
to  investigate  matters.  He  had  orders  to  receive  into  his 
keeping,  ships,  houses,  fortresses,  and  all  royal  property, 
provided  it  should  be  proved  that  Columbus  had  for- 
feited his  claim  to  the  control  of  such  property.  A 
letter  was  sent  to  Columbus  requiring  his  obedience  to 
Bobadilla.  The  latter  sailed  about  the  middle  of  July, 
1500,  for  San  Domingo. 

When  he  arrived,  Aug.  23,  seeing  the  bodies  of  some 
Spaniards  whom  Columbus  had  recently  executed  for  con- 
spiracy against  his  life,  he  concluded  that  the  reports 
of  the  cruelty  of  the  Admiral  were  true,  and  at  once 
ordered  Diego,  the  brother  of  Columbus,  as  the  latter 
was  absent,  to  deliver  up  the  malcontents  to  him.  He 
read  his  royal  orders  from  the  door  of  the  church.  As 
Diego  was  at  first  unwilling  to  submit  without  the  com- 
mand of  the  Admiral,  Bobadilla  went  at  once  to  the 
fortress  and  released  the  conspirators. 

He  threw  Diego  into  prison,  seized  the  gold,  plate, 
horses,  and  manuscripts  of  Columbus,  and  took  up  his 
residence  in  the  Admiral's  house.  Columbus  was  aston- 
ished beyond  measure,  nor  would  he  believe,  until  he  saw 
a  letter  signed  by  the  sovereigns  bidding  him  give  obe- 
dience to  Bobadilla.  In  answer  to  a  summons  to  appear 
immediately  before  the  latter,  he  departed  almost  alone 
for  San  Domingo,  to  meet  Bobadilla.  When  the  latter 
heard  of  his  arrival,  he  gave  orders  to  put  Columbus  in 
irons,  and  confine  him  in  the  fortress. 


CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS.  55 

When  the  irons  were  brought  all  present  shrank  from 
putting  them  on,  such  an  outrage  did  it  seem  to  one  so 
dignified  and  almost  always  so  lenient  and  considerate. 
Columbus  bore  it  all  in  silence,  showing  no  ill-will 
against  any.  Fearing  that  the  more  determined  Bar- 
tholomew would  rebel  and  try  to  rescue  his  brother, 
Bobadilla  demanded  that  Columbus  write  to  Bartholo- 
mew requesting  him  to  come  peaceably  to  San  Domingo. 
This  Columbus  did,  assuring  his  brother  that  all  would 
be  made  right  when  they  arrived  in  Castile.  On  his 
arrival  he  was  also  put  in  irons,  and  the  three  brothers 
were  not  allowed  to  communicate  with  each  other. 
Bobadilla  did  not  visit  them  nor  allow  others  to  do  so. 

All  kinds  of  misrule  were  charged  against  Columbus. 
Even  the  worst  among  the  motley  crowd  at  San  Domingo 
blew  horns  about  the  prison  doors,  glad  of  any  change 
and  any  hope  of  ease  and  lawlessness.  Columbus  began 
to  suspect  that  his  life  even  would  be  taken.  When  the 
vessels  were  in  readiness  to  carry  their  prisoners  t^ 
Spain,  Alonzo  de  Villejo,  who  was  to  conduct  them, 
entered  the  fortress  with  the  guard. 

"Villejo,"  said  the  white-haired  discoverer,  "whither 
are  you  taking  me  ?  " 

"  To  the  ship,  your  Excellency,  to  embark,"  was  his 
reply. 

"  To  embark  !     Villejo,  do  you  speak  the  truth  ?  " 

"By  the  life  of  your  Excellency,  it  is  true  !  " 

The  ships  set  sail  in  October,  amidst  the  shouts  of 
the  rabble.  Both  Villejo  and  the  master  of  the  caravel 
wished  to  remove  the  chains;  but  Columbus  said,  "No; 
their  majesties  commanded  me  by  letter  to  submit  to 
whatever  Bobadilla  should  order  in  their  name  ;  by  their 
authority  he  has  put  upon  me  these  chains ;  I  will  wear 


56  CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS. 

them  until  they  shall  order  them  to  be  taken  off,  and  I 
will  preserve  them  afterwards  as  relics  and  memorials 
of  the  reward  of  my  services."  "  He  requested,"  says 
his  son  Ferdinand,  "  that  they  might  be  buried  with 
him." 

When  Columbus  reached  Cadiz  in  irons  the  whole 
population  was  overwhelmed  with  astonishment  and 
indignation.  Those  even  who  had  been  his  enemies 
were  loud  in  condemnation  of  such  treatment.  These 
murmurs  of  the  people  reached  the  ear  of  the  court  at 
Granada.  During  the  voyage  Columbus  wrote  a  letter 
to  Dona  Juana  de  la  Torre,  former  nurse  of  Prince  Juan, 
a  lady  much  beloved  by  Isabella.  This  was  sent  as  soon 
as  he  arrived.  In  the  letter  he  says,  "  The  slanders  of 
worthless  men  have  done  me  more  injury  than  all  my 
services  have  profited  me.  .  .  .  Whatever  errors  I  may 
have  fallen  into,  they  were  not  with  an  evil  intention." 

When  this  letter  was  read  to  Isabella  she  realized  the 
wrong  that  had  been  done  to  Columbus,  ordered  that  he 
and  his  brothers  be  at  once  released,  and  wrote  a  "  letter 
of  gratitude  and  affection,"  inviting  the  Admiral  to 
court,  and  sending  two  thousand  ducats  for  his  expenses. 

The  heart  of  Columbus  was  cheered.  He  repaired  to 
Granada  Dec.  17,  and  was  received  with  great  distinc- 
tion. Isabella  wept ;  and  when  he  saw  his  sovereign 
thus  affected  he  fell  upon  his  knees,  sobbed  aloud,  and 
could  not  speak  for  some  time. 

The  sovereigns  raised  him  from  the  ground  and  en- 
couraged him  with  most  gracious  words.  They  declared 
that  Bobadilla  had  exceeded  their  instructions  and 
should  be  immediately  dismissed ;  that  the  property  of 
Columbus  and  all  his  rights  and  privileges  should  be 
restored. 


CURISTOPUEli    COLUMBUS.  57 

The  position  of  viceroy,  however,  was  not  restored  to 
him,  probably  because  since  several  other  discoveries 
had  been  made,  principally  by  those  who  had  been 
assistants  of  Columbus,  — Nino,  who  had  been  with  the 
Admiral  to  Cuba,  had  sailed  to  South  America  and 
brought  back  pearls,  and  Vicente  Yafiez  Pinzon  had  dis- 
covered the  Amazon  River  and  sailed  to  Cape  St.  Augus- 
tine,—  Ferdinand  no  longer  deemed  it  wise  for  so  much 
territory  to  be  under  one  person,  and  that  person  a 
foreigner. 

He  assured  Columbus  that  it  was  not  wise  for  him  to 
return  for  two  years,  since  matters  were  in  such  confu- 
sion; so  Don  Nicholas  de  Ovando  was  chosen  to  super- 
sede Bobadilla.  He  went  out  Feb.  13, 1502,  with  a  fleet 
of  thirty  ships  and  twenty-five  hundred  persons.  In 
the  early  part  of  the  voyage  the  fleet  was  scattered  by 
a  storm,  one  vessel  foundered  with  one  hundred  and 
twenty  passengers,  and  the  others  were  obliged  to  throw 
overboard  everything  on  deck,  so  that  the  shores  of 
Spain  were  strewed  with  articles  from  the  fleet.  So 
overcome  were  the  sovereigns  by  this  news,  that  they 
shut  themselves  up  for  eight  days,  allowing  no  one  to 
be  admitted  to  their  presence.  Most  of  the  ships  finally 
reached  San  Domingo. 

Under  Bobadilla  matters  had  gone  from  bad  to  worse. 
"  Make  the  most  of  your  time ;  there  is  no  knowing  how 
long  it  will  last,"  was  his  oft-repeated  expression  to 
the  slave-holders.  The  position  of  the  Indians  grew 
intolerable. 

"  Little  used  to  labor,"  says  Irving,  "  feeble  of  consti- 
tution, and  accustomed  in  their  beautiful  and  luxuriant 
island  to  a  life  of  ease  and  freedom,  they  sank  under 
the  toils  imposed  upon  them  and  the  severities  by  which 


58  CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS. 

they  were  enforced.  .  .  .  When  the  Spaniards  travelled, 
instead  of  using  the  horses  and  mules  with  which  they 
were  provided,  they  obliged  the  natives  to  transport 
them  upon  their  shoulders  in  litters,  or  hammocks,  with 
others  attending  to  hold  umbrellas  of  palm-leaves  over 
their  heads  to  keep  off  the  sun,  and  fans  of  feathers  to 
cool  them  ;  and  Las  Casas  affirms  that  he  has  seen  the 
backs  and  shoulders  of  the  unfortunate  Indians  who 
bore  these  litters  raw  and  bleeding  from  the  task." 

Finally,  in  1502,  Columbus  was  to  make  his  fourth 
and  last  voyage.  He  was  now  sixty-six,  his  body  weak- 
ened by  exposure  and  mental  suffering.  His  squadron 
consisted  of  four  caravels  and  one  hundred  and  fifty 
men.  His  brother  and  his  younger  son,  Ferdinand, 
sailed  with  him.  He  had  assured  the  sovereigns  that 
he  believed  there  was  a  strait  (about  where  the  Isthmus 
of  Panama  is  situated),  and  thought  that  lie  could  pass 
to  the  Indian  Ocean,  and  reach  Hindostan  westward  as 
Vasco  da  Garaa  had  recently  reached  it  sailing  eastward. 

Columbus  and  his  party  left  Cadiz  May  9  or  11,  1502, 
and  one  of  his  vessels  having  become  unseaworthy,  he 
stopped  at  Hispaniola  in  order  to  purchase  another  or 
exchange  it  in  San  Domingo.  As  Ovando  was  then  in 
command,  Columbus  had  been  told  by  the  sovereigns  to 
stop  on  his  way  homeward  rather  than  in  going  out,  as 
matters  were  still  so  unsettled;  but  the  condition  of 
the  ship  demanding  it,  he  thought  he  should  not  be 
blamed. 

In  the  harbor,  about  to  start  for  Spain,  were  the  ves- 
sels in  which  Ovando  had  sailed,  ready  to  carry  back  Bo- 
badilla  and  some  of  his  adherents,  E.oldan,  and  others. 
Bobadilla  had  one  immense  nugget  of  gold,  which  had 
been  found  by  an  Indian  woman,  and  this  he  intended 


CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS.  59 

to  cany  to  the  sovereigns,  knowing  that  the  finding  of 
gold  was  sure  to  cover  up  many  sins.  In  one  vessel  were 
four  thousand  pieces  of  gold,  which  had  been  set  apart 
by  the  agent  of  Columbus  as  the  rightful  share  of  the 
latter. 

Columbus  sent  word  to  Ovando  of  his  arrival,  and 
asked  permission  to  remain  in  the  harbor,  as  he  appre- 
hended a  storm.  This  was  refused.  Then  he  sent  word 
again  that  he  felt  sure  the  storm  was  approaching,  and 
hoped  that  the  fleet  might  not  be  returned  to  Spain  just 
yet.  Probably  Ovando  thought  any  suggestion  about 
storms  was  unwarranted,  for  no  attention  was  paid  to  it, 
and  the  fleet  set  sail. 

The  storm  soon  arose,  the  ship,  having  on  board  Boba- 
dilla  and  his  gold,  with  Roldan  and  an  Indian  chief 
as  prisoner,  went  down,  and  all  the  rest  were  wrecked  or 
so  badly  damaged  that  none  could  proceed  to  Spain 
save  one,  and  that  the  one  which  carried  the  gold  of 
Columbus. 

The  Admiral  and  his  vessels  seem  to  have  been  almost 
miraculously  preserved  in  the  fearful  storm,  unsheltered 
as  they  were.  He  sailed  on  past  the  southern  shore  of 
Cuba,  and  soon  reached  the  coast  of  Honduras. 

Here  he  was  surprised  to  find  quite  a  superior  race  of 
Indians.  Their  hatchets  for  cutting  wood  were  of  cop- 
per instead  of  stone  ;  they  had  sheets  and  mantles  of 
cotton,  worked  and  dyed  in  various  colors.  The  women 
wore  mantles  like  the  women  among  the  Moors  at  Gra- 
nada, and  the  men  had  cotton  cloth  about  the  loins. 

Fearful  storms  prevailed  for  nearly  two  months.  The 
seams  of  the  vessels  opened,  and  the  sails  were  torn  to 
pieces.  Many  times  the  sailors  confessed  their  sins  to 
each  other  and  prepared  for  death.     "  I  have  seen  many 


60  CUBISTOPHER    COLUMBUS. 

tempests,"  says  Columbus,  "but  none  so  violent  or  of 
such  long  duration."  Much  of  the  time  he  was  ill,  and 
worried  over  his  son  Ferdinand  and  his  brother  Barthol- 
omew. "  The  distress  of  my  son  grieved  me  to  the 
soul,"  he  says,  "  and  the  more  when  I  considered  his 
tender  age ;  for  he  was  but  thirteen  years  old,  and  he 
enduring  so  much  toil  for  so  long  a  time.  .  .  .  My 
brother  was  in  the  ship  that  was  in  the  worst  condition 
and  the  most  exposed  to  danger ;  and  my  grief  on  his 
account  was  the  greater  that  I  brought  him  with  me 
against  his  will." 

They  sailed  along  what  is  now  the  Mosquito  Coast  and 
the  shore  of  Costa  Itica  (Rich  Coast),  so  called  from  the 
gold  and  silver  mines  found  later  in  its  mountains. 
Everywhere  they  heard  reports  of  gold.  They  met  ten 
canoes  of  Indians,  most  of  whom  had  plates  of  gold 
about  their  necks,  which  they  refused  to  part  with. 

Sometimes  the  Indians  were  hostile,  and  would  rush 
into  the  sea  up  to  their  waists,  and  splash  the  water  at 
the  Spaniards  in  defiance ;  but,  as  a  rule,  they  were  soon 
pacified,  and  induced  to  give  up  their  gold  for  a  few 
trinkets. 

Continuing  along  the  coast  of  Veragua,  where  they 
heard  that  the  most  gold  could  be  found,  they  saw  for 
the  first  time  signs  of  solid  architecture  —  a  great  mass 
of  stucco  formed  of  stone  and  lime.  Columbus  wrote 
to  the  sovereigns  later  that  the  people  —  he  had  gathered 
this  from  the  Indians  in  part,  and  also  judged  from  what 
he  saw  —  wore  crowns,  bracelets,  and  anklets  of  gold, 
and  used  it  for  domestic  purposes,  even  to  ornament  their 
seats  and  tables.  Some  Indians  told  him  that  the  people 
were  mounted  on  horseback,  and  that  great  ships  came 
into  their  ports  armed  with  cannon.     This,  indeed,  must 


CURISTOniEB    COLUMBUS.  61 

be  the  country  of  Kublai  Khan,  whom  Marco  Polo  wrote 
about. 

The  coast  abounded  in  maize,  or  Indian  corn,  pine- 
apples, and  other  tropical  fruits,  and  alligators  sunned 
themselves  along  the  banks  of  the  rivers. 

Again  storms  came  up,  and  the  rain  poured  from  the 
skies,  says  Columbus,  like  a  second  deluge.  The  men 
were  almost  drowned  in  their  open  vessels.  Sharks 
gathered  round  the  ships,  which  the  sailors  regarded 
as  a  bad  omen,  as  it  was  believed  these  could  smell  dead 
bodies  at  a  distance,  and  always  kept  about  a  vessel  soon 
to  be  wrecked.  Their  food  had  been  spoiled  by  the  heat 
and  moisture  of  the  climate,  and  their  biscuits  were  so 
filled  with  worms  that  they  had  to  be  eaten  in  the  dark 
so  as  to  prevent  nausea. 

As  soon  as  the  sea  was  calm,  Columbus  determined  to 
ascertain  the  truth  about  gold  mines.  He  sent  Barthol- 
omew into  the  interior  with  several  men  and  three  guides 
whom  the  principal  chief,  Quibian,  had  furnished  him. 
The  guides  took  him,  it  is  believed,  into  the  territory  of 
an  enemy,  Quibian  hoping  thereby  to  save  his  own  land 
from  intrusion. 

Bartholomew  set  forth  again  with  an  armed  band  of 
fifty-nine  men,  and  found  much  to  convince  him  that 
gold  was  here  in  abundance.  It  was  determined  there- 
fore to  build  a  town  here,  which  should  be  the  great  cen- 
tre for  gold-mining.  Bartholomew  should  remain  with 
the  men,  while  the  Admiral  sailed  to  Spain  for  more  aid. 

Houses  were  at  once  started,  built  of  wood  and  thatched 
with  the  leaves  of  palm-trees.  True,  they  had  almost 
no  food,  but  there  was  maize  and  fruit  in  abundance. 
Many  presents  were  made  to  Quibian  to  reconcile  him  to 
this  intrusion  ;  but  he  was  warlike,  and  soon  gathered  a 


62  CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS. 

force  of  a  thousand  men  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of 
making  war  upon  a  neighboring  tribe. 

This  Diego  Mendez,  the  chief  notary,  did  not  believe. 
He  volunteered  therefore  with  another  Spaniard  to  go  to 
the  house  of  Quibian  and  see  for  themselves.  The  chief 
was  confined  to  his  house  by  an  arrow  wound  in  the  leg. 
Mendez  told  the  son  —  the  latter  struck  him  a  fearful 
blow  as  he  arrived,  but  was  finally  pacified  —  that 
he  had  come  with  some  ointment  to  heal  the  father.  He 
could  not  gain  access  to  the  chief,  but  he  learned  in 
various  Avays  that  Quibian  intended  to  surprise  the  town 
at  night  and  murder  the  people. 

Bartholomew  determined  at  once  to  march  to  Quibian's 
house  and  capture  him  and  his  warriors.  Taking  seventy 
four  armed  men,  he  started  on  his  errand.  He  led  the 
way  with  five  men,  the  others  out  of  sight  in  the  rear. 

As  Bartholomew  drew  near  the  house  Quibian  saw 
him  and  requested  him  to  approach  alone.  Telling 
Mendez  that  when  he,  Bartholomew,  should  take  the 
chief  by  the  arm,  they  should  spring  to  his  assistance, 
he  advanced  to  meet  Quibian,  asked  about  his  wound, 
and,  under  pretence  of  examining  it,  took  hold  of  his 
arm. 

Immediately  the  four  rushed  to  his  aid,  the  others 
surrounded  the  dwelling,  and  about  fifty  old  and  young 
were  seized  with  all  their  gold,  amounting  to  about  three 
hundred  ducats.  The  Indians  offered  any  amount  for 
the  release  of  Quibian,  but  even  gold  could  not  tempt 
the  Spaniards  in  this  case.  The  chief  was  taken  on 
board  of  one  of  the  boats ;  but  he  managed  to  escape  in 
the  night,  and  it  was  supposed  that  he  had  perished,  as 
both  feet  and  hands  were  bound. 

However,  he  had  not  drowned,  and  when  he  realized 


CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS.  63 

that  lie  was  bereft  of  wives  and  children,  he  determined 
upon  revenge.  He  assembled  his  warriors  and  came 
secretly  upon  the  settlement,  wounding  several,  till  the 
bloodhounds  were  let  loose  upon  them,  and  they  fled  in 
terror.     Bartholomew  was  among  the  wounded. 

The  Admiral  meantime,  unable  to  pass  the  bar,  had 
on  board  the  captive  warriors  and  family  of  Quibian. 
They  were  shut  up  at  night  in  the  forecastle,  several  of 
the  crew  sleeping  upon  the  hatchway  which  was  secured 
by  a  strong  chain  and  padlock.  In  the  night  some  of 
the  Indians  forced  this  open  and  sprang  into  the  sea. 
Several  were  seized  before  they  could  escape,  were  forced 
back  into  the  forecastle,  and  the  hatchway  again  fast- 
ened. In  the  morning  all  were  found  dead.  They  had 
hanged  or  strangled  themselves,  so  hateful  was  this 
dominion  of  the  white  men. 

After  a  short  time  the  Admiral,  one  of  his  caravels 
being  so  worm-eaten  that  it  went  to  pieces,  and  another 
worthless,  abandoned  the  fort,  leaving  the  unwelcome 
coast  of  Veragua,  and  reached  Jamaica.  The  other  two 
caravels  were  reduced  to  mere  wrecks,  and  were  ready 
to  sink  even  in  port. 

It  was  necessary  to  send  to  Ovando  to  ask  for  ships 
in  which  to  come  to  San  Domingo.  Diego  Mendez  with 
another  Spaniard,  and  six  Indians,  set  out  on  the  peril- 
ous journey  in  a  canoe  having  a  mast  and  sail.  Once 
they  were  taken  by  Indians  but  escaped;  again  they  were 
taken  prisoners,  and  Mendez  again  escaped  and  made  his 
way  back  alone  in  his  canoe  to  Columbus,  after  fifteen 
days'  absence. 

Mendez  offered  to  try  once  more  if  a  party  could  be 
provided  to  go  with  him  to  the  end  of  Jamaica,  when  he 
would  attempt  to  cross  the  gulf  to  Hayti.     Bartholomew 


64  CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS. 

therefore,  with  an  armed  band  on  shore,  followed  beside 
the  two  canoes  on  the  water  till  they  were  at  the  end  of 
the  island,  and  then  they  pushed  out  into  the  broad  sea. 

The  voyage  was  a  terrible  one.  The  water  gave  out, 
and  some  of  the  rowers  died  of  thirst  and  were  thrown 
into  the  sea,  while  others  lay  gasping  on  the  bottom  of 
the  canoes.  Finally  they  reached  a  small  island  and 
found  rain-water  in  the  crevices  of  the  rocks.  The  In- 
dians were  frantic  with  delight,  drank  too  much,  and 
several  died. 

At  last  they  reached  San  Domingo,  only  to  learn  that 
Ovando  was  at  Xaragua,  fifty  leagues  distant,  whither 
Mendez  proceeded  on  foot  through  forests  and  over 
mountains.  Ovando  blandly  expressed  his  sorrow,  and 
promised  aid  week  after  week  and  month  after  month, 
for  a  year,  not  allowing  Mendez  to  leave  San  Domingo, 
under  pretence  that  the  ships  would  soon  be  ready. 

The  days  seemed  long  to  wait  for  an  answer  from 
Ovando.  The  little  band  with  Columbus  began  to  mur- 
mur, and  before  he  was  aware  of  it  a  mutiny  was  at 
hand.  On  Jan.  2,  1504,  when  he  was  a  complete  cripple 
in  his  bed  from  gout,  Francisco  de  Porras,  captain  of  one 
of  the  caravels,  appeared  before  him  and  in  an  insolent 
nmaner  declared  that  Columbus  did  not  intend  to  carry 
the  men  back  to  Spain,  and  they  had  determined  to 
take  the  matter  into  their  own  hands. 

"Embark  immediately,"  said  Porras,  "or  remain  in 
God's  name.  For  my  part,"  turning  his  back  on  the 
Admiral,  "  I  am  for  Castile !  those  who  choose  may 
follow  me ! " 

Shouts  came  from  all  sides  of  the  vessel,  "  I  will  fol- 
low you  !  and  I !  and  I !  "  while  others  brandished  their 
weapons  and  cried  out,  "  To  Castile  !  to  Castile  !  "  while 


CniUSTOPIIEE   COLUMBUS.  65 

some  even  threatened  the  life  of  the  Admiral.  Barthol- 
omew at  once  planted  himself,  lance  in  hand,  before  the 
turbulent  crowd.  Porras  was  told  to  go  if  he  wished,  so 
taking  ten  canoes  which  the  Admiral  had  purchased 
from  the  Indians,  about  forty  set  sail  for  Hispaniola, 
taking  with  them  some  Indians  to  guide  the  canoes. 

When  out  to  sea  they  were  soon  compelled  to  return, 
and  finding  that  they  were  too  heavily  loaded  in  the 
rough  waves,  they  forced  the  Indians  to  leap  into  the 
ocean.  Although  skilful  swimmers,  it  was  too  far  from 
land  for  them  to  reach  it,  so  they  occasionally  grasped 
the  boats  to  gain  their  breath.  Upon  this  the  Spaniards 
cut  off  their  hands  and  stabbed  them  till  eighteen  sank 
beneath  the  waves.  Once  more  back  upon  the  land,  they 
went  from  village  to  village,  passing,  as  Irving  says,  "  like 
a  pestilence  through  the  island." 

At  length,  after  a  year,  two  vessels  arrived,  one  fitted 
out  by  Mendez  and  the  other  by  Ovando. 

Columbus  and  his  men  set  sail,  and  arrived  in  San 
Domingo  Aug.  13,  1504.  The  Admiral  was  politely 
received  by  Ovando,  and  lodged  in  his  house.  While 
he  professed  great  friendship  for  Columbus,  he  pardoned 
the  traitor  Porras. 

Columbus  found  matters  in  a  dreadful  condition  in 
San  Domingo.  When  Ovando  came  out  to  supersede 
Bobadilla,  Isabella  had  made  the  Indians  free,  so  amazed 
had  she  been  at  the  treatment  received  in  their  slavery 
under  him.  When  Ovando  saw  that  the  Spaniards  mur- 
mured and  would  not  work,  he  wrote  to  the  Queen  that 
the  Indians  could  only  be  kept  from  vices  by  labor,  and 
that  they  now  kept  aloof  from  the  Spaniards,  and  there- 
fore lost  all  Christian  instruction. 

This  influenced  the  Queen,  and   she  gave  permission 


66  CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS. 

for  moderate  labor  if  essential  to  their  good,  and  regular 
wages.  With  this  permission  Ovando  paid  them  the 
merest  pittance,  made  them  labor  eight  months  out  of 
the  year,  and  allowed  them  to  be  lashed  and  starved. 
When  the  Spaniards  at  the  mines  were  eating,  the  In- 
dians, says  Las  Casas,  would  scramble  under  the  table 
to  get  the  bones  which  were  thrown  to  them,  and,  after 
gnawing  them,  would  pound  them  up  to  mix  with  their 
bread. 

Those  who  worked  in  the  fields  never  tasted  flesh,  but 
lived  on  cassava  bread  and  roots.  They  were  brought 
sometimes  eighty  leagues  away  from  their  homes,  and 
when  three  months  of  forced  labor  were  over,  they 
would  start  homeward  to  their  wives  and  children.  All 
through  the  journey  they  had  nothing  to  sustain  them 
but  bread,  and  not  always  that,  so  that  they  sank  down 
by  the  hundreds  and  died  along  the  roadsides.  Las  Casas, 
the  noble  priest,  says,  "  I  have  found  many  dead  in  the 
road,  others  gasping  under  the  trees,  and  others  in  the 
pangs  of  death,  faintly  crying,  Hunger !  hunger ! " 
When  they  reached  their  homes  the  wives  and  children 
had  usually  perished  or  wandered  away,  and  the  desolate 
husbands  sank  down  at  the  threshold  and  died.  Many 
killed  themselves  to  end  their  sorrows,  and  mothers 
killed  their  own  infants  rather  than  that  they  should  be 
thus  treated  by  the  white  men. 

Whole  provinces  were  wiped  out  by  Ovando  through 
fire  and  sword.  Behechio  of  Xaragua  had  died,  and 
Anacaona,  his  sister,  ruled  in  his  place.  She  was  called 
"  The  Golden  Flower  "  for  her  beauty  and  ability ;  she 
composed  most  of  their  legendary  ballads,  and  was  ad- 
mired, even  by  the  Spaniards,  for  her  grace  and  dignity. 
Her  subjects   often   had   quarrels   with    some  dissolute 


CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS.  67 

white  men.  Ovando  resolved  to  put  an  end  to  Xaragua. 
At  the  head  of  three  hundred  foot-soldiers,  besides 
seventy  horsemen  and  arms,  he  went  professedly  on  a 
visit  to  Anacaona.  She  came  out  to  meet  him  with  all 
her  leading  chiefs,  and  a  great  train  of  women  who 
waved  palm  branches  and  sang  their  national  songs. 
After  a  feast  the  Indians  took  part  in  games  for  the 
pleasure  of  their  visitors. 

In  return  all  were  invited  to  the  public  square,  where 
the  Spaniards  were  to  entertain  them.  The  chiefs  were 
all  gathered  in  the  house  which  Ovando  had  occupied. 
At  a  given  signal  from  Ovando  — a  finger  placed  on  his 
breast  on  the  image  of  God  the  Father  —  a  massacre 
began;  the  horsemen  trampled  the  Indians  under  foot, 
cleaving  the  ranks  with  their  swords,  set  fire  to  the  house 
where  the  chiefs  were  and  burned  them  all,  and  took  Ana- 
caona prisoner,  and  later  hanged  her  in  the  presence  of 
the  people  she  had  so  long  befriended.  In  memory 
of  this  great  victory  Ovando  founded  a  town  and  called 
it  St.  Mary  of  the  True  Peace  ! 

When  Columbus  reached  Hispaniola  he  was  filled  with 
sorrow,  and  wrote  to  the  Queen,  "  I  am  informed  that  since 
I  left  the  island  six  parts  out  of  seven  of  the  natives  are 
dead,  all  through  ill-treatment  and  inhumanity  :  some  by 
the  sword,  others  by  blows  and  cruel  usage,  others  through 
hunger.  The  greater  part  have  perished  in  the  moun- 
tains and  glens,  whither  they  had  fled  from  not  being 
able  to  support  the  labor  imposed  upon  them." 

Columbus  must  have  remembered  sadly  that  he  was 
the  one  who  first  suggested  repartimientos,  or  distribut- 
ing the  labor  of  the  Indians  to  their  taskmasters,  that 
more  gold  might  be  sent  to  the  crown,  and  the  idle  Span- 
iards provided  with  food  by  the  labor  of  the  red  men  in 
the  fields. 


68  cnnisTOPUER  columbus. 

Sad  and  old  and  ill,  Columbus  departed  for  Spain  Sept. 
12,  1504,  and,  after  a  stormy  passage,  arrived  Nov.  7. 

Isabella  was  on  her  death-bed.  Among  her  last  re- 
quests was  one  that  Ovando  should  be  removed  from 
office,  which  Ferdinand  promised  her  (he  was  not  removed 
till  four  years  later,  since  his  grinding  methods  brought 
a  good  revenue  to  the  monarch)  ;  and  that  Columbus 
should  be  restored  to  his  possessions  in  the  Indies,  and 
the  poor  Indians  be  kindly  treated.  Isabella  was  broken- 
hearted with  the  death  of  her  only  son,  Prince  Juan,  of 
her  beloved  daughter,  Isabella,  of  her  grandson  and  pros- 
pective heir,  Prince  Miguel,  and  with  the  insanity  of  her 
daughter,  Juana,  and  her  unhappy  life  with  Philip  of 
Austria.  She  died  Nov.  26,  1504,  at  Medina  del  Campo, 
in  the  fifty-fourth  year  of  her  age.  She  wished  to  be 
buried  without  any  monument  except  a  plain  stone,  and 
so  directed  in  her  will. 

To  Columbus  the  death  of  Isabella  was  a  fatal  blow. 
He  was  now  poor,  and  his  rents  uncollected  in  Hispani- 
ola,  probably  through  the  connivance  of  Ovando.  He 
writes  to  his  son  Diego  at  court :  "  I  live  by  borrowing. 
Little  have  I  profited  by  twenty  years  of  service,  with 
such  toils  and  perils,  since  at  present  I  do  not  own  a  roof 
in  Spain.  If  I  desire  to  eat  or  sleep,  I  have  no  resort 
but  an  inn,  and,  for  the  most  times,  have  not  where- 
withal to  pay  my  bill."  Later  he  said,  "  I  have  served 
their  majesties  with  as  much  zeal  and  diligence  as  if  it 
had  been  to  gain  Paradise  ;  and  if  I  have  failed  in  any- 
thing, it  has  been  because  my  knowledge  and  powers 
went  no   further." 

As  the  winter  passed  away  and  spring  came,  Columbus 
became  more  and  more  anxious  to  visit  court  and  lay  his 
neglects  before  Ferdinand.     The  use  of    mules    having 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS.  69 

been  prohibited,  since  by  their  use  the  breeding  of  horses 
had  declined,  Columbus  on  account  of  his  age  and  infirm- 
ities obtained  permission  to  ride  upon  one  as  he  made 
this  journey  to  Segovia  to  see  the  king. 

Ferdinand  received  him,  as  Irving  says,  with  "cold, 
ineffectual  smiles," — he  had  never  apparently  any  in- 
terest in  Columbus,  —  promised  that  his  claims  should 
be  left  to  arbitration,  though  Las  Casas  believed  that  he 
would  have  been  glad  "to  have  respected  few  or  none  of 
the  privileges  which  he  and  the  queen  had  conceded  to 
the  Admiral,  and  which  had  been  so  justly  merited." 

Columbus  was  now  upon  his  sick-bed,  still  sending 
petitions  to  the  king  that  he  would  secure  the  viceroy- 
ship  to  his  son  Diego.  Ferdinand  asked  him  to  take 
instead  titles  and  estates  in  Castile  —  the  New  World 
had  by  this  time  become  too  valuable  to  Ferdinand  to 
allow  any  man  to  be  viceroy.  This  Columbus  declined 
to  do. 

Finally  the  Admiral  gave  up  the  matter,  saying,  "  It 
appears  that  his  majesty  does  not  think  fit  to  fulfil  that 
which  he,  with  the  Queen,  who  is  now  in  glory,  promised 
me  by  word  and  seal.  For  one  to  contend  for  the  con- 
trary would  be  to  contend  with  the  wind.  I  have  done 
all  that  I  could  do.  I  leave  the  rest  to  God,  whom  I 
have  ever  found  propitious  to  me  in  my  necessities." 

He  died  May  20,  150G,  about  seventy  years  of  age, 
at  Valladolid.  His  last  words  were  "  In  vianvs  tints, 
Domine,  commendo  spiritum  meum :  Into  thy  hands,  0 
Lord,  I  commend  my  spirit."  He  was  buried  in  the 
convent  of  St.  Francisco  at  Valladolid,  from  whence  his 
body  was  removed  in  1513  to  the  monastery  of  Las 
Cuevas  at  Seville,  where  the  body  of  his  son  Diego, 
second  Admiral  and  Viceroy  of  the  Indies,  was  buried  in 


70  CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS. 

1526.  About  ten  years  later  the  bodies  of  the  two  were 
removed  to  the  cathedral  of  San  Domingo  at  Hispaniola. 

At  the  close  of  a  war  between  France  and  Spain  in 
1795,  the  Spanish  possessions  in  Hispaniola  were  ceded 
to  France.  The  Spaniards  therefore  requested  that  the 
body  of  Columbus  might  be  conveyed  to  Havana.  This 
•  was  readily  granted  ;  and  Dec.  20,  1795,  in  the  presence 
of  an  august  gathering,  a  small  vault  was  opened  above 
the  chancel,  and  the  fragments  of  a  leaden  coffin  and 
some  bones  were  found,  which  were  put  into  a  small  box 
of  gilded  lead,  and  this  into  a  coffin  covered  with  black 
velvet.  The  remains  were  conveyed  with  great  rever- 
ence to  the  ship  which  was  to  bear  them  to  Havana,  Jan. 
15,  1796,  where  with  distinguished  military  honors  they 
were  buried. 

In  1877,  in  the  course  of  some  changes  in  the  chancel 
of  the  cathedral  at  San  Domingo,  two  other  graves  were 
opened :  one,  that  of  the  grandson,  bearing  an  inscrip- 
tion, in  Spanish,  "  El  Almirante,  D.  Luis  Colon,  Duque 
de  Veragua,  Marques  de  —  presumably — Jamaica."  On 
the  other  casket  were  carved  the  letters  C.  C.  A.,  probably 
"  Christoval  Colon,  Almirante."  Inside  the  cover  was 
an  abbreviated  inscription  commonly  translated,  "  The 
celebrated  and  extraordinary  man,  Don  Christopher 
Columbus." 

Within  the  casket  was  a  small  silver  plate  with  the 
words  somewhat  abbreviated,  "The  last  remains  of  the 
first  Admiral,  Christopher  Columbus,  the  Discoverer." 
A  corroded  musket-ball  was  also  found  in  the  casket. 
As  the  Admiral  wrote  to  the  King  while  on  his  fourth 
voyage  that  his  wound  had  broken  out  afresh,  it  is  con- 
jectured that  a  ball  was  still  in  his  body  from  some 
of  his  earlv  warfare.     The  authorities  at  San  Domingo 


CII1USTOPI1ER   COLUMBUS.  71 

believed  that  the  body  of  the  son  Diego  was  removed  to 
Havana,  and  not  that  of  the  Admiral.  A  German  ex- 
plorer, Rudolf  Cronau,  gave  the  matter  careful  study  in 
1890,  and  felt  convinced  that  the  authorities  at  San 
Domingo  were  correct  in  their  belief.  Dr.  Charles  Ken- 
dall Adams,  in  his  life  of  Columbus,  thinks  "the  belief 
will  come  to  prevail  that  the  remains  of  Columbus  are 
now  at  San  Domingo,  and  not  at  Havana." 

After  the  death  of  Columbus  his  son  Diego  married 
Maria,  the  daughter  of  Fernando  de  Toledo,  Grand  com- 
mander of  Leon,  niece  of  the  celebrated  Duke  of  Alva, 
chief  favorite  of  the  King,  and  one  of  the  proudest 
families  in  Spain. 

Diego  with  his  wife,  called  the  vice-queen,  his  brother 
Ferdinand,  who  never  married,  his  two  uncles  Barthol- 
omew and  Diego,  and  many  noble  cavaliers  came  to  San 
Domingo.  Like  his  father,  he  had  continual  trouble 
with  the  colonists.  He  tried  to  do  away  with  reparti- 
mientos,  but  was  unable  on  account  of  the  opposition  of 
the  Spaniards.  Negro  slaves  had  already  been  sent  from 
Africa  to  fill  the  places  of  the  exterminated  Indians. 

The  King  did  not  give  Diego  his  proper  titles,  but  they 
were  granted  after  Ferdinand's  death  by  his  grandson 
and  successor,  Charles  V. 

Don  Diego  at  his  death,  Feb.  23,  152G.  left  three  sons 
and  four  daughters.  Don  Luis,  the  eldest  son,  some 
years  later  gave  up  all  pretensions  to  the  vice-royalty  of 
the  New  World,  and  received  instead  the  titles  of  Duke 
of  Veragua  and  Marquis  of  Jamaica.  Having  no  lei^i t  i- 
mate  son,  lie  was  succeeded  by  his  nephew,  Diego,  son 
of  his  brother  Christoval,  who  died  without  children  in 
1578.  A  lawsuit  then  arose  and  was  continued  for  thirty 
years  as  to  the  titles  and  estates  of  the  great  discoverer. 


72  CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS. 

The  case  was  finally  decided  Deo.  2,  1608,  in  favor  of 
the  grandson  of  Isabel,  the  daughter  of  Diego  and  Maria 
de  Toledo,  Don  Nuno,  or  Nngno  Gelves  de  Portugallo, 
who  became  Duke  of  Veragua.  The  male  line  becoming 
extinct,  the  titles  reverted  to  the  line  of  Francesca,  sister 
of  Diego,  who  inherited  the  titles  from  Luis,  her  uncle. 
The  value  of  the  titles,  Mr.  Winsor  says,  is  said  to  repre- 
sent about  eight  to  ten  thousand  dollars  yearly,  and  is 
chargeable  upon  the  revenues  of  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico. 

Mr.  Winsor  thinks  the  career  of  Columbus  ''sadder, 
perhaps,  notwithstanding  its  glory,  than  any  other 
mortal  presents  in  profane  history." 

How  would  those  last  days  at  Valladolid  have  been 
cheered  could  he  have  looked  forward  through  four  cen- 
turies, and  seen  the  New  World  which  he  discovered, 
honoring  that  discovery  and  the  discoverer  with  the  vast 
Columbian  Exposition  !  How  repaid  for  all  his  poverty 
and  sorrow  would  he  have  been  could  he  have  guessed 
that  even  the  children  in  two  hemispheres  would  be 
taught  four  hundred  years  later  the  story  of  his  life,  its 
perseverance,  its  courage,  and  its  faith  !  He  made  mis- 
takes, as  who  does  not  ?  but  the  life  of  the  young  Ital- 
ian wool-comber,  studying  in  every  moment  of  leisure, 
and  asking  assistance  year  after  year  from  crowned 
heads  till  he  was  fifty -six  years  old,  to  make  his  immor- 
tal discoveries,  will  ever  be  remarkable,  and  an  inspira- 
tion for  all  time  to  come. 


MARCO   POLO. 


MARCO  POLO,  born  in  1254,  was  the  eldest  son  of 
a  very  rich  nobleman  of  Venice,  Nicolo  Polo. 
Venice  was  at  that  time  a  great  republic,  and  her  mer- 
chants transacted  business  in  almost  all  parts  of  the  world. 

The  uncle  of  Marco,  named  also  Marco,  had  a  mer- 
cantile house  in  Constantinople  and  at  Soldaia,  on  the 
south-east  coast  of  the  Crimea.  He  and  his  brother 
Nicolo,  in  their  trading  ventures,  went  into  the  extreme 
East,  where  no  European,  as  far  as  is  known,  had  been 
before. 

When  Marco  was  a  lad  of  fifteen  he  was  taken  with  his 
father  and  uncle  on  their  journeys, and  spent  about  twenty- 
six  years  in  Persia,  China,  Japan,  India,  and  Russia. 

On  the  return  of  the  travellers  in  1295,  Ramusio,  who 
wrote  in  1553,  says  that  nobody  would  believe  the  three 
men  were  really  the  Polos,  they  were  so  changed  in 
looks,  and  their  garments  were  so  unlike  those  worn  by 
the  Venetians.  The  Polos  therefore  invited  a  large  com- 
pany to  the  mansion  where  they  formerly  lived. 

"  When  the  hour  arrived  for  sitting  down  to  table," 
says  Ramusio,  "they  came  forth  of  their  chamber  all 
three  clothed  in  crimson  satin,  fashioned  in  long  robes 
reaching  to  the  ground,  such  as  people  in  those  days 
wore  within  doors.  And  when  water  for  the  hands  had 
been  served,  and  the  guests  were  set,  they  took  off  those 

73 


74  MARCO  POLO. 

robes  and  put  on  others  of  crimson  damask,  whilst  the 
first  suits  were  by  their  orders  cut  up  and  divided  among 
the  servants. 

"Then,  after  partaking  of  some  of  the  dishes,  they  went 
out  again  and  came  back  in  robes  of  crimson  velvet,  and 
when  they  had  again  taken  their  seats,  the  second  suits 
were  divided  as  before.  When  dinner  was  over,  they  did 
the  like  with  the  robes  of  velvet,  after  they  had  put  on 
dresses  of  the  ordinary  fashion  worn  by  the  rest  of  the 
company.  These  proceedings  caused  much  wonder  and 
amazement  among  the  guests. 

"  But  when  the  cloth  had  been  drawn,  and  all  the  ser- 
vants had  been  ordered  to  retire  from  the  dining-hall, 
Messer  Marco,  as  the  gayest  of  the  three,  rose  from 
table,  and,  going  into  another  chamber,  brought  forth  the 
three  shabby  dresses  of  coarse  stuff  which  they  had  worn 
when  they  first  arrived.  Straightway  they  took  sharp 
knives  and  began  to  rip  up  some  of  the  seams  and  welts, 
and  to  take  out  of  them  vast  quantities  of  jewels  of  the 
greatest  value,  such  as  rubies,  sapphires,  carbuncles, 
diamonds,  and  emeralds,  which  had  all  been  stitched  up 
in  those  dresses  in  so  artful  a  fashion  that  nobody  could 
have  suspected  the  fact. 

"  For  when  they  took  leave  of  the  Great  Khan  they  had 
changed  all  the  wealth  that  he  had  bestowed  upon  them 
into  this  mass  of  rubies,  emeralds,  and  other  jewels, 
being  well  aware  of  the  impossibility  of  carrying  with 
them  so  great  an  amount  in  gold  over  a  journey  of  such 
extreme  length  and  difficulty.  Now,  this  exhibition  of 
such  a  huge  treasure  of  jewels  and  precious  stones,  all 
tumbled  out  upon  the  table,  threw  the  guests  into  fresh 
amazement,  insomuch  that  they  seemed  quite  bewildered 
and  dumbfounded.     And  now  they  recognized  that  in 


MARCO  POLO.  75 

spite  of  all  former  doubts  these  were  in  truth  those  hon- 
ored and  worthy  gentlemen  of  the  Ca  Polo  that  they 
claimed  to  be  ;  and  so  all  paid  them  the  greatest  honor 
and  reverence." 

Another  singular  story  is  told  about  the  shabby  gar- 
ments which  the  Polos  wore  on  their  return  from  the  far 
East.  The  wife  of  one  of  them  gave  to  a  beggar  a  dirty 
and  patched  coat,  not  knowing  that  it  had  jewels  in 
it.  The  owner  at  once  went  to  the  Bridge  of  the  Rialto, 
and  stood  turning  a  wheel,  and  saying  to  those  who 
crowded  round  him,  who  supposed  he  was  insane,  "  He'll 
come,  if  God  pleases."  After  two  or  three  days  the 
beggar,  as  curious  as  the  rest,  came  to  see  the  man  turn- 
ing his  wheel.  At  once  Polo  recognized  his  coat  and 
recovered  his  jewels.  "  Then,"  says  the  narrative,  "  he 
was  judged  to  be  quite  the  reverse  of  a  madman !  " 

The  Polos  were  so  rich  that  Marco  was  called  Marco 
Millioni,  and  his  home,  Corte  de'  Millioni. 

After  Marco  had  been  in  Venice  two  or  three  years, 
the  Genoese  in  1298  fitted  out  a  great  fleet,  under  com- 
mand of  Lamba  Doria,  against  the  Venetians.  Both  re- 
publics had  quarrelled  in  1255  over  an  old  church  in  Acre, 
Syria.  Nearly  twenty  thousand  men  were  killed  on  both 
sides,  and  Acre  itself  was  nearly  destroyed.  Ten  engines 
shot  stones  weighing  fifteen  hundred  pounds  into  the  city, 
demolishing  the  towers  and  forts.  In  1294  the  Vene- 
tians seized  three  Genoese  vessels,  and  again  the  repub- 
lics went  to  war,  the  Genoese  gaining  a  great  victory, 
capturing  all  but  three  of  the  Venetian  galleys  with  their 
rich  cargoes. 

The  bitterness  increased  till,  in  1298,  a  severe  battle 
was  fought  off  the  island  of  Curzola.  The  Genoese  had 
seventy-eight   galleys,    and   the    Venetians    ninety-four 


7G  MARCO  POLO. 

under  Andrea  Dandolo.  The  fight  lasted  through  the 
day,  Sunday,  Sept.  7,  the  Genoese  gaining  a  complete 
victory,  capturing  nearly  all  the  galleys,  including  the 
flag-ship  of  Dandolo.  In  despair  at  his  defeat,  rather 
than  be  a  captive  in  chains  of  the  Genoese,  he  refused 
food,  and  finally  killed  himself  by  dashing  his  head 
against  a  bench.  The  Genoese  gave  him  a  ceremonious 
burial,  on  the  return  of  their  victorious  fleet. 

The  Genoese  lost  heavily,  among  them  the  eldest  son 
of  Lamba  Doria,  Octavian,  who  fell  at  the  forecastle  of 
his  father's  vessel,  shot  by  an  arrow  in  the  breast.  His 
comrades  mourned  sadly,  and  the  courage  of  the  men 
weakened,  when  Lamba  ran  forward  into  the  agitated 
company,  ordered  that  they  cast  his  son's  body  into  the 
sea,  saying  that  the  land  could  never  have  offered  his 
boy  a  nobler  tomb,  and  fighting  more  fiercely  than  ever, 
though  almost  broken-hearted,  he  gained  the  victory. 

Seven  thousand  persons  were  taken  prisoners,  among 
them  Marco  Polo,  who  was  the  captain  of  one  of  the  war 
galleys. 

Colonel  Henry  Yule,  C.Bo,  who  has  edited  the  works 
of  Marco  Polo,  with  extensive  and  valuable  notes,  says 
that  these  war  galleys  cost  about  thirty-five  thousand 
dollars  each.  They  had  nearly  or  quite  two  hundred 
rowers  apiece,  the  toil  of  rowing  being  almost  unendura- 
ble, so  that  in  more  recent  times  it  was  performed  by 
slaves  under  the  most  cruel  driving.  The  musicians 
played  an  important  part,  as  it  was  considered  essential 
to  have  much  noise  of  fifes,  trumpets,  kettle-drums,  etc., 
to  give  courage  to  the  crew,  and  to  put  fear  into  the 
heart  of  the  enemy.  A  captured  galley  was  taken  into 
port  stern  foremost,  her  colors  dragging  on  the  surface  of 
the  water. 


MARCO  POLO.  77 

While  Marco  was  in  the  Genoa  prison  he  became  ac- 
quainted with  Rusticiano  of  Pisa,  a  man  of  considerable 
literary  reputation.  The  Pisans,  Aug.  6,  1284,  had  been 
defeated  at  Meloria,  in  front  of  Leghorn,  by  the  Geno- 
ese under  Uberto,  the  elder  brother  of  Lamba  Doria. 
Lamba  with  his  six  sons  was  in  the  fleet.  Forty  of  the 
Pisan  galleys  were  taken  or  sunk,  and  upwards  of  nine 
thousand  Pisans  were  made  prisoners.  Many  noble 
ladies  after  this  surrender  came  on  foot  to  Genoa  to  seek 
their  kindred.  The  answer  to  them  was,  "  Yesterday 
there  died  thirty  of  them,  to-day  there  have  been  forty, 
all  of  whom  we  have  cast  into  the  sea :  and  so  it  is 
daily." 

It  is  probable  that  Rusticiano  persuaded  Marco  to  put 
on  paper  an  account  of  his  wonderful  travels,  or,  rather, 
to  dictate  it  to  his  prison  companion,  for  we  owe  to  the 
Pisan,  the  very  interesting  record,  of  which  Marco  Polo 
himself  says,  "that  since  our  Lord  God  did  mould  with 
his  hands  our  first  father  Adam,  even  until  this  day, 
never  hath  there  been  Christian,  or  Pagan,  or  Tartar,  or 
Indian,  or  any  man  of  any  nation,  who  in  his  own  person 
hath  had  so  much  knowledge  and  experience  of  the  divers 
parts  of  the  world  and  its  wonders  as  hath  had  this 
Messer  Marco ! " 

After  Marco  had  been  in  prison  nearly  a  year,  peace 
was  secured  between  the  two  republics,  and  he,  with  the 
others  who  were  alive,  were  restored  to  their  own  coun- 
try. A  treaty  of  peace  was  soon  after  signed  between 
Genoa  and  Pisa,  and,  of  course,  Rusticiano  was  freed. 

A  few  years  after  this  release  from  prison,  Marco  mar- 
ried Donata  Loredano,  of  a  noble  family,  by  whom  he 
had  three  daughters,  Fantina,  Bellela,  and  Moreta.  Jn 
the  early  part  of  1324,  when  Marco  was  seventy,  finding 


78  MARCO  POLO. 

himself  "to  grow  daily  feebler  through  bodily  ailment," 
he  made  his  will,  constituting  his  "  beloved  wife  and  dear 
daughters  trustees,"  and  giving  them  most  of  his  prop- 
erty. It  is  probable  that  he  died  that  year,  and  was 
buried  in  the  church  of  San  Lorenzo. 

He  was  urged  while  on  his  death-bed  to  retract  some 
of  the  strange  things  he  had  written  about  the  countries 
visited.  He  refused  to  do  so,  declaring  that  he  had  told 
the  truth.  It  has  taken  several  centuries  to  prove  what 
at  that  time  seemed  largely  a  fable. 

Marco  Polo's  book,  Colonel  Yule  thinks,  was  written  in 
French,  and  remained  for  over  a  century  in  manuscript 
before  printing  was  invented.  Colonel  Yule  has  found 
about  seventy-five  manuscripts  in  various  languages.  Of 
course  Marco  Polo's  book  has  been  translated  into  a  great 
many  languages,  and  is  now  read  all  over  the  world. 

In  1260,  when  Marco  was  only  six  years  old,  his  father 
and  mother  went  as  far  East  as  Cathay  (China)  to  the  court 
of  the  great  Kublai  Khan.  So  delighted  was  the  latter 
with  these  Venetians  that  he  asked  them  some  years  later 
to  become  his  ambassadors  to  the  Pope,  and  beg  the  prel- 
ate to  send  a  hundred  missionaries  to  his  country.  They 
were  also  to  bring  back  "  some  oil  from  the  lamp  which 
burns  on  the  sepulchre  of  our  Lord  at  Jerusalem."  The 
Polos  returned  to  Italy  ;  but  Clement  IV.  was  dead,  and 
when  Gregory  X.  came  to  power,  two  years  later,  he  could 
send  only  two  Dominicans,  and  these  soon  lost  courage, 
and  gave  up  the  long  and  wearisome  journey. 

When  the  Polos  returned  to  the  Great  Khan  the  lad 
Marco  went  with  them.  His  mother  had  died,  and  he 
greatly  desired  to  be  with  his  father.  They  were  three 
years  and  a  half  on  the  journey.  The  Khan  heard  of 
their  coming,  and  sent  some  officials  forty  days'  journey 


MARCO   POLO.  79 

to  meet  them.  All  repaired  to  the  summer  palace  at 
Kaipingfu,  about  fifty  miles  north  of  the  Great  Wall, 
where  they  were  received  with  much  ceremony.  The 
Khan  was  greatly  pleased  with  the  holy  oil. 

The  boy  Marco  succeeded  wonderfully  in  learning  the 
language  and  customs  of  the  Tartars  ;  in  fact,  he  soon 
knew  several  languages,  and  four  which  were  in  charac- 
ters such  as  the  Chinese.  The  orders  of  the  Great  Khan 
were  written  in  six  languages:  Mongol,  Nighur  (a  branch 
of  Oriental  Turkish),  Arabic,  Persian,  Tangutan  (proba- 
bly Tibetan),  and  Chinese.  Marco  became  such  a  favor- 
ite with  Kublai  Khan  that  he  was  sent  on  a  mission  to 
a  country  six  months'  distant  from  China.  Usually  when 
ambassadors  returned  they  told  the  Khan  only  about 
business,  whereas  the  Khan  said,  "  I  had  far  liever 
hearken  about  the  strange  things  and  the  manners  of 
the  different  countries  you  have  seen  than  merely  the 
business  you  went  upon." 

Marco  therefore  made  careful  observations  of  the  dif- 
ferent people  and  countries,  thus  proving  himself  a  wise 
young  man,  and  laying  the  foundation  for  his  great  fame. 

On  his  return  from  his  first  mission  he  told  the  Khan 
many  strange  things,  at  which  the  Emperor  was  so  much 
pleased  that  he  said,  "If  this  young  man  live,  he  will 
assuredly  come  to  be  a  person  of  great  worth  and 
ability." 

For  seventeen  years  Marco  was  the  trusted  official  of  the 
Emperor,  attending  to  much  of  his  private  as  well  as  pub- 
lic business.  Finally  Marco  and  his  father  and  uncle  be- 
came anxious  to  return  to  Venice,  but  the  Khan  refused  to 
think  (if  their  departure.  At  last,  Arghun  Khan  of  Per- 
sia, Kublai's  great-nephew,  having  lost  his  favorite  wife, 
Khatun  Bulughan.  in  128(5,  and  mourning  her  sorely,  sent 


80  MARCO  POLO. 

three  ambassadors  to  China  to  select  a  wife  from  her  kin, 
as  she  had  left  a  dying  request  that  nobody  should  fill 
her  place  save  one  of  her  own  family.  Such  messages 
are  sometimes  forgotten,  but  Arghun  Khan  seems  to  have 
remembered. 

The  ambassadors  presented  their  desires  to  Kublai, 
and  choice  was  made  of  Kukachin,  a  beautiful  girl  of 
seventeen,  of  unusual  ability  and  of  fine  family.  As  the 
journey  overland  from  Peking,  China,  to  Tabreez  in  Per- 
sia, was  long  and  dangerous  on  account  of  frequent  wars, 
the  ambassadors  preferred  to  return  by  sea,  and  begged 
that  the  travellers,  the  Polos,  might  accompany  them. 

Marco  had  just  returned  from  a  mission  to  India. 
Kublai  reluctantly  consented  to  their  going,  but  provided 
handsomely  for  the  voyage,  —  thirteen  ships,  each  carry- 
ing as  crews  from  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred 
and  sixty  men,  —  and  sent  friendly  messages  to  the 
kings  of  England,  France,  and  Spain.  They  sailed  from 
Fokien,  China,  and  after  three  months  arrived  at  Java ; 
it  was  more  than  two  long  years  before  they  reached 
Persia.  Two  of  the  ambassadors  died  on  the  passage, 
and  of  the  six  hundred  persons  on  board,  besides  the 
mariners,  only  eight  survived. 

Arghun  Khan  had  died  March  12,  1291,  even  before 
the  party  left  China,  and  his  brother  had  succeeded  him. 
This  brother  directed  the  Polos  to  bear  the  lady  to  the 
son  of  Arghun,  Ghazan  Khan,  who  was  then  in  the 
province  of  Khorasan  guarding  the  frontier  with  sixty 
thousand  men.  The  party  reached  Ghazan  the  last  of 
1293,  or  the  first  of  1294,  and  he,  instead  of  his  father, 
married  Kukachin,  which  was  doubtless  more  appro- 
priate, both  as  to  age  and  character,  for  while  Ghazan 
was  not  as  handsome  as  his  father,  he  had  many  admir- 


MAE  CO  POLO.  81 

able  qualities  as  a  statesman  and  a  soldier.  The  young 
bride  from  China  lived  only  till  June,  1296,  a  little  over 
two  years  after  her  marriage.  She  had  become  tenderly 
attached  to  the  Polos,  and  wept  when  they  left  her  in 
Persia  and  went  on  to  Venice.  They  reached  their 
Italian  home  sometime  in  1295. 

Marco  Polo's  travels,  with  Colonel  Yule's  notes,  fill 
about  one  thousand  large  pages,  and  will  repay  a  read- 
ing. When  it  is  possible,  the  record  will  be  given  in 
Marco's  own  words.  He  first  describes  Armenia,  in 
Asia  Minor,  a  country  old  long  before  Christ  was  born, 
probably  of  Phrygian  origin,  which  took  its  name  from 
Aram,  one  of  its  noted  kings,  who  lived  about  1800  B.  C. 
They  consider  themselves  descended  from  Japhet,  the 
son  of  Noah. 

"  In  this  country  of  Armenia,"  says  Marco,  "  the  ark 
of  Noah  exists  on  the  top  of  a  certain  great  mountain  on 
the  summit  of  which  snow  is  so  constant  that  no  one 
can  ascend ;  for  the  snow  never  melts,  and  is  constantly 
added  to  by  new  falls.  Below,  however,  the  snow  does 
melt,  and  runs  down,  producing  such  rich  and  abundant 
herbage  that  in  summer  cattle  are  sent  to  pasture  from 
a  long  way  round  about,  and  it  never  fails  them." 
People  believed  that  Noah's  ark  still  existed,  and  pieces 
of  the  pitch  were  used  as  amulets.  Mount  Ararat  is 
16,953  feet  high.  It  was  first  ascended  by  Professor 
Parrot,  in  September,  1829.  Several  persons  have  made 
the  ascent  since  that  time. 

To  the  north  of  Armenia  Marco  found  Georgiana 
(Georgia),  which  Alexander  the  Great  could  not  pass 
through,  on  account  of  the  sea  on  one  side  and  lofty 
mountains  on  the  other,  so  he  built  a  high  tower  at  the 
entrance   of  the  deiile,   that  the  people  beyond   should 


82  MARCO  POLO. 

not  attack  him.  This,  says  Yule,  is  the  Pass  of  Derbend, 
still  called  in  Turkish  the  Iron  Gate,  with  a  wall  that 
runs  from  the  Castle  of  Derbend  along  the  ridges  of 
Caucasus.  The  wall  is  eight  feet  thick,  and  twenty-six 
feet  high.  The  fortress  was  completed  by  Naoshirwan, 
A.  d.  542,  who,  with  his  father,  erected  three  hundred 
and  sixty  towers  upon  the  Caucasian  walls. 

The  Georgians  believed  themselves  descended  from 
King  David ;  therefore  each  king  was  called  David. 
Marco  found  the  people  handsome  —  the  Georgian 
women  have  always  been  bought  for  wives  by  the 
Turks,  on  account  of  their  great  beauty. 

Marco  saw  cloths  of  gold  and  silk  made  here  in  great 
abundance,  and  such  oil  springs  "  that  a  hundred  ship- 
loads could  be  taken  at  one  time."  These  were  probably 
the  immense  petroleum  wells  of  Baku,  from  which  oil  is 
shipped  all  over  Europe.  South-east  of  Armenia,  Marco 
entered  Mansul  (Mosul),  where  cloths  of  gold  and  silk 
were  made,  called  Mosolins,  and  where  a  people  lived 
called  Kurds,  "  an  evil  generation,  whose  delight  it  is  to 
plunder  merchants." 

Bandas  (Bagdad)  was  found  to  be  a  great  and  wealthy 
city,  the  residence  of  the  Saracen  caliphs.  The  city, 
built  about  765  by  the  second  caliph  of  the  Abbasside 
dynasty,  soon  became  renowned  as  a  commercial  and  in- 
tellectual metropolis.  Haroun-al-Rasehid,  the  fifth  caliph 
of  the  Abbassides,  a  great  warrior  as  well  as  patron  of 
letters,  made  it  the  centre  of  Arabic  civilization. 

He  led  an  army  of  95,000  men  against  the  Byzantine 
empire,  ruled  by  Irene,  and  made  her  pay  an  annual 
tribute.  When  her  son  refused  to  pay  the  tribute, 
Haroun-al-Raschid,  at  the  head  of  135,000  men,  proceeded 
against  him,  and  the  Greek  emperor  lost  40,000  men,  and 


MARCO  POLO.  83 

acknowledged  himself  tributary.  Again  the  tribute  was 
refused,  and  again  Haroun  ravaged  Asia  Minor  at  the 
head  of  300.000  men.  Bagdad  itself  was  finally  taken 
by  Hulaku  in  1258,  which  event  Marco  thus  describes  :  — 

"  The  Lord  of  the  Tartars  of  the  Levant,  whose  name 
was  Alaii  (Hulaku),  brother  to  the  Great  Khan  now 
reigning,  gathered  a  mighty  host  and  came  up  against 
Bandas  (Bagdad),  and  took  it  by  storm.  It  was  a  great 
enterprise,  for  in  Bandas  there  were  more  than  100,000 
horse,  besides  foot  soldiers.  And  when  Alaii  had  taken 
the  place,  he  found  therein  a  tower  of  the  caliphs,  which 
was  full  of  gold  and  silver  and  other  treasure ;  in  fact, 
the  greatest  accumulation  of  treasure  in  one  spot  that 
ever  was  known. 

"  When  he  beheld  that  great  heap  of  treasure,  he  was 
astonished ;  and,  summoning  the  caliph  to  his  presence, 
he  said  to  him  :  '  Caliph,  tell  me  "now  why  thou  hast 
gathered  such  a  huge  treasure  ?  What  didst  thou  mean 
to  do  therewith  ?  Knowest  thou  not  that  I  was  thine 
enemy,  and  that  I  was  coming  against  thee  with  so 
great  an  host  to  cast  thee  forth  of  thine  heritage  ? 
Wherefore  didst  thou  not  take  of  thy  gear  and  employ  it  in 
paying  knights  and  soldiers  to  defend  thee  and  thy  city  ?  ' 

"The  caliph  wist  not  what  to  answer,  and  said  never 
a  word.  So  the  Prince  continued :  '  Now,  then,  Caliph, 
since  I  see  what  a  love  thou  hast  borne  thy  treasure,  I 
will  e'en  give  it  thee  to  eat ! '  So  he  shut  the  caliph  up 
in  the  Treasure  Tower,  and  bade  that  neither  meat  nor 
drink  should  be  given  him,  saying,  '  Now,  Caliph,  eat  of 
thy  treasure  as  much  as  thou  wilt,  since  thou  art  so  fond 
of  it ;  for  never  shalt  thou  have  aught  else  to  eat ! '  So 
the  Caliph  lingered  in  the  tower  four  days,  and  then 
died  like  a  doe;." 


84  MARCO  POLO. 

The  death  of  Mosta  Sim  Billah,  the  last  of  the  Abbas- 
side  caliphs,  is  variously  told.  Some  authorities  say 
that  he  was  rolled  in  a  carpet,  as  carpets  are  usually 
rolled,  and  his  limbs  crushed  ;  others,  that  he  was  wrapt 
in  a  carpet  and  trodden  to  death  by  horses. 

Longfellow  has  put  this  story  into  verse  in  his  "Tales 
of  a  Wayside  Inn,"  in  the  Spanish  Jew's  Tale  of  Kam- 
balu. 

"  I  said  to  the  Kalif :  '  Thou  art  old, 
Thou  hast  no  need  of  so  much  gold. 
Thou  shouldst  not  have  heaped  and  hidden  it  here, 
Till  the  breath  of  battle  was  hot  and  near, 
But  have  sown  through  the  land  these  useless  hoards 
To  spring  into  shining  blades  of  swords, 
And  keep  thine  honor  sweet  and  clear. 
These  grains  of  gold  are  not  grains  of  wheat; 
These  bars  of  silver  thou  canst  not  eat; 
These  jewels  and  pearls  and  precious  stones 
Cannot  cure  the  aches  in  thy  bones, 
Nor  keep  the  feet  of  Death  one  hour 
From  climbing  the  stairways  of  thy  tower!' 

Then  into  his  dungeon  I  locked  the  drone, 
And  left  him  to  feed  there  all  alone 
In  the  honey-cells  of  his  golden  hive: 
Never  a  prayer,  nor  a  cry,  nor  a  groan 
Was  heard  from  those  massive  walls  of  stone, 
Nor  again  was  the  Kalif  seen  alive ! 

When  at  last  we  unlocked  the  door, 

We  found  him  dead  upon  the  floor; 

The  rings  had  dropped  from  his  withered  hands, 

His  teeth  were  like  bones  in  the  desert  sands: 

Still  clutching  his  treasure  he  had  died; 

And  as  he  lay  there,  he  appeared 

A  statue  of  gold  with  a  silver  beard, 

His  arms  outstretched  as  if  crucified." 


MARCO  POLO.  85 

Marco  also  relates  how  one  of  the  caliphs  of  Bagdad, 
hating  the  Christians,  and  desiring  some  pretext  for  per- 
secuting them,  told  them  that  as  they  had  declared  that 
if  they  had  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard-seed  they  could 
remove  mountains,  there  must  surely  be  that  amount  of 
faith  among  them ;  therefore  if  they  did  not  remove  a 
mountain  in  the  neighborhood,  they  would  be  put  to  death. 

The  Christians  bethought  themselves  of  a  very  holy 
one-eyed  cobbler  who  had  put  an  awl  into  his  other  eye, 
because  that  organ  had  led  him  to  think  evil.  He  prayed 
in  the  presence  of  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  Chris- 
tians, and  the  mountain  rose  out  of  its  place  and  moved 
to  the  spot  designated  by  the  caliph  !  This  was  probably 
told  to  Marco,  instead  of  his  being  an  eye-witness  of 
the  miracle. 

From  Tabreez,  in  the  north  of  Persia,  where  there  is  a 
ruin  of  a  beautiful  mosque  of  Ghazan  Khan,  and  "  where 
the  city  is  all  girt  round  with  charming  gardens,"  Marco 
went  to  Savah,  about  fifty  miles  south-west  of  Teheran. 
Savah  possessed  one  of  the  greatest  libraries  of  the  East 
until  its  destruction  by  the  Mongols  when  they  first  in- 
vaded Persia.  The  three  Magi,  Jaspar,  Melchior,  and 
Balthazar,  who  went  out  to  worship  Christ,  started  from 
this  city,  and  are  said  to  be  buried  there  in  three  large 
and  beautiful  monuments  side  by  side. 

Marco  travelled  extensively  in  Persia,  finding  the 
nomad  tribes,  then  as  now,  cruel  and  murderous.  The 
Persian  horses  sold  to  India  were  very  fine  and  of  great 
endurance.  Yule  tells  of  some  that  travelled  nine  hun- 
dred miles  in  eleven  days,  and  of  one  that  went  eleven 
hundred  miles  in  twelve  days,  including  two  days  of 
rest,  making  one  hundred  and  ten  miles  per  day.  Such 
horses  were  sold  for  one  thousand  dollars  each. 


86  MARCO  POLO. 

At  Kerman  Marco  saw  famous  steel  ciraeters  and 
lances.  The  Turks  paid  great  prices  for  them,  the  qual- 
ity of  a  Kerman  sabre  being  such  that  it  would  cleave  a 
European  helmet  without  turning  the  edge. 

From  Kerman  Marco  journeyed  to  Hormos  (Ormuz), 
an  island  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  Persia. 
On  the  way  thither,  through  central  Persia,  he  saw  sin- 
gular birds  and  beasts.  The  francolin  (black  partridge) 
have  a  peculiar  call  which  the  peasants  in  Egypt  think  is 
Arabic  for  "  Sweet  are  the  corn-ears !  Praised  be  the  Lord." 

'•  The  oxen,"  says  Marco,  "  are  very  large  and  all  over 
white  as  snow ;  the  hair  is  very  short  and  smooth,  which 
is  owing  to  the  heat  of  the  country  ;  the  horns  are 
short  and  thick,  not  sharp  in  the  point ;  and  between 
the  shoulders  they  have  a  round  hump,  some  two  palms 
high.  There  are  no  handsomer  creatures  in  the  world, 
and  when  they  have  to  be  loaded,  they  kneel  like  a  camel ; 
once  the  load  is  adjusted,  they  rise.  Their  load  is  a 
heavy  one,  for  they  are  very  strong  animals.  Then  there 
are  sheep  here  as  big  as  asses ;  and  their  tails  are  so 
large  and  fat  that  one  tail  will  weigh  some  thirty 
pounds.  They  are  fine  fat  beasts,  and  afford  capital 
mutton." 

William  Marsden,  F.  K.  S.,  in  his  translation  of  Marco, 
says  that  such  sheep  are  found  in  various  parts  of  Asia 
and  Africa.  The  tail  is  broad  and  large  and  often  weighs 
fifty  pounds.  Where  these  sheep  feed  in  the  fields,  the 
shepherds  are  obliged  to  fix  a  piece  of  thin  board  to  the 
uniler  part  of  the  tail  to  prevent  its  being  torn  by 
bushes,  and  sometimes  small  wheels  are  put  under  this 
board  that  the  animal  may  have  a  sort  of  wagon  in 
which  to  carry  its  tail  easily.  The  fat  of  this  tail  is 
often  used  by  the  natives  instead  of  butter. 


MARCO  POLO.  87 

At  Ormuz,  formerly  one  of  the  great  commercial 
centres  of  the  East,  Marco  describes  the  hot  winds, 
which  in  Italy  are  called  II  Sirocco.  The  heat  is  so 
intolerable  that  during  the  hot  months,  from  June  to 
September,  it  often  kills  both  animals  and  vegetables. 
During  great  heat,  usually  from  nine  till  twelve,  the 
people  often  stay  in  water  up  to  their  necks. 

Various  travellers  have  described  this  pestilential 
wind,  which  the  people  of  Beluchistan  call  julot  or  julo 
(the  flame).  Chardin  says,  "  The  most  surprising  effect 
of  the  wind  is  not  the  mere  fact  of  its  causing  death, 
but  its  operation  on  the  bodies  of  those  who  are  killed 
by  it.  It  seems  as  if  they  become  decomposed  without 
losing  shape,  so  that  you  would  think  them  to  be  merely 
asleep,  when  they  are  not  merely  dead,  but  in  such  a  state 
that  if  you  take  hold  of  any  part  of  the  body  it  comes 
away  in  your  hand,  and  the  finger  penetrates  such  a  body 
as  if  it  were  so  much  dust." 

Marco  relates  this  incident  which  happened  when  he 
was  at  Ormuz:  "The  Lord  of  Hormos  not  having  paid 
his  tribute  to  the  King  of  Kerman,  the  latter  resolved  to 
claim  it  at  the  time  when  the  people  of  Hormos  were 
residing  away  from  the  city;  so  he  caused  a  force  of 
sixteen  hundred  horse  and  five  thousand  foot  to  be  got 
ready,  and  sent  them  by  the  route  of  Reobarles  to  take 
the  others  by  surprise. 

"Now.  it  happened  one  day  that,  through  the  fault  of 
their  guide,  they  were  not  able  to  reach  the  place  appointed 
fur  the  night's  halt,  and  were  obliged  to  bivouac  in  a 
wilderness  not  far  from  Hormos.  In  the  morning,  as 
they  were  starting  on  their  inarch,  they  were  caught  by 
that  wind,  and  every  man  of  them  was  suffocated,  so  that 
not  one  survived  to  carry  the  tidings  to  their  lord.     When 


88  MARCO  POLO. 

the  people  of  Hormos  heard  of  this,  they  went  forth  to 
bury  the  bodies  lest  they  should  breed  a  pestilence.  But 
when  they  laid  hold  of  them  by  the  arms  to  drag  them 
to  the  pits,  the  bodies  proved  to  be  so  baked,  as  it  were, 
by  that  tremendous  heat,  that  the  arms  parted  from  the 
trunks,  and  in  the  end  the  people  had  to  dig  graves  hard 
by  each  where  it  lay,  and  so  cast  them  in." 

Scattered  through  Persia,  Marco  observed  the  great 
Chinar,  or  plane-trees,  which  grow  to  an  immense  size, 
and  often  stand  alone,  with  no  other  tree  within  several 
miles.  Marco  calls  it  the  Arbre  Sec,  Dry  Tree,  or  Arbre 
Sol,  Tree  of  the  Sun.  Vows  were  made  before  these 
ancient  trees,  and  pieces  of  cloth  torn  from  the  clothes  of 
the  votaries  were  hung  upon  the  branches.  Many  of  these 
sacred  trees  bore  the  inscription,  "  If  you  pray,  you  will 
certainly  be  heard."  It  is  generally  believed  that  one 
who  injures  or  cuts  down  one  of  these  grand  trees  will 
soon  die.  Many  of  these  Chinar  trees  are  over  a  thousand 
years  old  ;  some  are  said  to  date  from  the  seventh  century. 

Marco  tells  this  story  of  the  Old  Man  of  the  Moun- 
tain :  — 

In  the  north  of  Persia,  in  the  mountains,  lived  a  sect 
called  Ismaelites.  Their  headcpiarters  were  at  Alamiit 
(Eagle's  Nest).  The  Prince  of  the  Assassins,  as  his 
followers  were  called,  Ala'uddin  Mahomed,  dwelt  in  a 
veritable  paradise,  with  beautiful  gardens,  palaces,  musi- 
cal instruments,  and  the  like.  His  soldiers  beguiled  young 
men  to  enter  his  service  when  the  latter  were  intoxi- 
cated by  hashish,  a  preparation  of  hemp.  They  were 
taken  into  this  charming  abode  where  was  every  pleasure. 
When  the  Prince  wished  to  send  any  of  his  young  men 
on  a  mission  of  murder,  he  was  removed  from  Paradise 
while  under  the  influence  of  hashish,  and  then  told  that 


MARCO  POLO.  89 

if  he  did  the  bidding  of  the  Prince  he  should  be  returned, 
dead  or  alive,  to  enjoy  it  forever. 

The  Assassins  were  pledged  to  the  most  perfect  obedi- 
ence. It  is  related  that  Henry,  Count  of  Champagne 
(titular  King  of  Jerusalem),  was  on  a  visit  to  the  Old 
Man  of  Syria,  who  was  a  leader  of  the  Assassins  before 
the  time  of  Marco.  One  day  as  they  walked  together  they 
saw  some  lads  sitting  on  the  top  of  a  high  tower.  The 
Old  Man  asked  the  Count  if  he  had  any  subjects  as  obe- 
dient as  these  ;  and  before  the  Count  had  time  to  answer, 
at  a  sign  from  the  Sheik,  the  two  boys  leaped  from  the 
tower,  and  were  killed  instantly. 

Alaii  (Hulaku,  the  brother  of  Kublai  Khan)  deter- 
mined to  end  this  band  of  murderers,  and  seat  a  large 
force  against  them  in  1254.  They  besieged  the  castle 
where  the  Old  Man  lived  for  three  years,  and  it  was  sur- 
rendered only  when  food  was  exhausted.  The  fortresses, 
one  hundred  in  number,  surrendered,  all  but  two.  One 
of  these  held  out  from  fourteen  to  twenty  years. 

Ruknuddin  Khursah,  at  whose  instigation  his  father, 
Ala'uddin,  had  been  killed  that  he  might  become  Prince, 
was  well  treated  by  Hulaku,  to  whom  he  had  surrendered. 
He  was  sent,  however,  to  Mangu  Khan,  elder  brother  to 
Kublai,  who,  hearing  of  his  approach,  asked  why  his 
post-horses  should  be  fagged  to  no  purpose,  and  ordered 
that  he  should  be  put  to  death  on  the  road. 

Marco  journeyed  to  Balkh,  now  in  the  north  of  Afghan- 
istan, and  found  the  ruins  of  palaces  and  other  marble 
buildings.  This  city  was  devastated  by  the  Great  Gen- 
ghis Khan  in  1221.  Though  it  yielded  without  resist- 
ance, the  whole  population  was  marched  by  companies  into 
the  plain,  under  the  pretext  of  being  counted,  and  then 
massacred.    All  buildings  capable  of  defence  were  levelled 


90  MAUCO  POLO. 

to  the  ground,  and  the  rest  burned.  Some  authorities 
say  the  city  contained  no  less  than  twelve  thousand 
mosques.  Thus  effectually  did  the  Great  Khan  do  his 
work  of  conquest. 

At  Badakhshan,  now  in  Afghanistan,  the  kings  all 
claimed  direct  descent  from  Roxana,  the  beautiful  daugh- 
ter of  Darius,  whom,  it  is  said,  her  father  in  a  dying 
interview  with  Alexander  asked  the  latter  to  marry. 
The  Balas  rubies  were  found  at  Badakhshan.  Marco  says, 
"  The  stones  are  dug  on  the  king's  account,  and  no  one 
else  dares  dig  in  that  mountain  on  pain  of  forfeiture  of 
life  as  well  as  goods ;  nor  may  any  one  carry  the  stones 
out  of  the  kingdom.  But  the  king  amasses  them  all, 
and  sends  them  to  other  kings  when  he  has  tribute  to 
render,  or  when  he  desires  to  offer  a  friendly  present ; 
and  such  only  as  he  pleases  he  causes  to  be  sold.  Thus 
he  acts  in  order  to  keep  the  Balas  at  a  high  value  ;  for 
if  he  were  to  allow  everybody  to  dig,  they  would  ex- 
tract so  many  that  the  world  would  be  glutted  with 
them,  and  they  would  cease  to  be  of  any  value.  .  .  . 
There  is  also  in  the  same  country  another  mountain 
in  which  azure  is  found  :  'tis  the  finest  in  the  world,  and 
is  got  in  a  vein  like  silver." 

The  present  monarch  still  holds  the  monopoly  of  these 
mines,  but  they  are  not  very  productive  now.  Yule  says 
about  sixty  years  ago  Murad  Beg  of  Kunduz  conquered 
Badakhshan,  and  was  so  disgusted  at  the  small  product 
from  the  mines  that  he  sold  nearly  the  whole  population 
of  the  place  into  slavery  ! 

In  Keshimur  (Cashmere)  Marco  found  sorcerers  who 
could  bring  on  changes  of  weather  and  produce  darkness. 
One  of  these  hermits  who  could  make  rain  and  snow 
at  pleasure,  says  one   of    the  old  chronicles,  "  scolded 


MARCO   POLO.  91 

those  who  made  a  noise,  for,  said  he  to  me  (after  I  had 
entered  his  cave  and  smoothed  him  down  with  a  half 
rupee,  which  I  put  in  his  hand  with  all  humility),  'noise 
here  raises  furious  storms.'  "... 

Cashmere  was  one  of  the  centres  of  Buddhist  teach- 
ing. In  the  first  half  of  the  seventh  century  there 
were  one  hundred  convents  with  about  five  thousand 
monks. 

Marco  found  the  women  brunettes  and  very  beautiful. 
Shawls  are  one  of  the  chief  articles  of  export,  made 
from  the  short  hair  next  the  skin  of  the  goat.  Some- 
times three  men  work  for  a  whole  year  on  a  single  shawl. 

Marco  crossed  the  sandy  desert  of  Gobi,  "the  length 
of  which  is  so  great  that  'tis  said  it  would  take  a  year 
or  more  to  ride  from  one  end  of  it  to  the  other." 
Travellers  in  crossing  hear  strange  sounds  as  of  persons 
talking,  or  drums  played.  Several  ancient  cities  are  be- 
lieved to  be  buried  under  the  sands  of  Gobi.  In  Tangut 
(Tibet)  Marco  describes  the  manner  of  burying  the  dead. 
"When  they  are  going  to  carry  a  body  to  the  burning, 
the  kinsfolk  build  a  wooden  house  on  the  way  to  the 
spot  and  drape  it  with  cloths  of  silk  and  gold.  When 
the  body  is  going  past  this  building  they  call  a  halt, 
and  set  before  it  wine  and  meat  and  other  eatables. 
All  the  minstrelsy  in  the  town  goes  playing  before  the 
body  ;  and  when  it  reaches  the  burning-place,  the  kins- 
folk are  prepared  with  figures  cut  out  of  parchment  and 
paper  in  the  shape  of  men  and  horses  and  camels,  and 
also  with  round  pieces  of  paper,  like  gold  coins,  and  all 
these  they  burn  along  with  the  corpse.  For  they  say 
that  in  the  other  world  the  defunct  will  be  provided 
with  slaves  and  cattle  and  money,  just  in  proportion  to 
the  amount  of  such  pieces  of  papeu  that  has  been  burnt 


92  MARCO   POLO. 

along  with  him."  It  is  probable  that  these  paper 
figures  were  symbols  of  the  more  ancient  custom  of  sac- 
rificing human  beings  and  valuable  possessions  at  the 
death  of  a  person.  Every  day,  as  long  as  the  body  is 
kept  in  the  house  before  burial,  food  is  set  before  it, 
and  it  is  believed  that  the  soul  comes  and  nourishes 
itself. 

At  Kanchow,  Tibet,  Marco  saw  very  large  recumbent 
idols,  covered  with  gold.  They  symbolize  Buddha  in 
the  state  of  nirvana.  One  in  Burma  is  sixty-nine  feet 
long.  One  seen  in  the  seventh  century  near  Bamian 
was  said  to  be  one  thousand  feet  long. 

Mr.  Thomas  W.  Knox,  in  his  book  on  Marco  Polo, 
mentions  an  idol  in  a  temple  at  Bangkok,  Siam,  one 
hundred  and  sixty  feet  long  ;  "  the  soles  of  the  feet  are 
three  and  a  half  yards  long  and  broad  in  proportion,  and 
each  of  them  is  inlaid  with  mother-of-pearl  as  delicately 
as  though  it  were  a  brooch  or  finger-ring.  The  figures 
represented  by  this  inlaid  work  are  entirely  fruits  and 
flowers,  in  accordance  with  the  fable  that  fruits  and 
flowers  spring  from  the  earth  wherever  Buddha  planted 
his  footsteps.  It  was  constructed  of  brick  and  then 
heavily  gilded,  so  that  one  might  easily  suppose  it  to  be 
made  of  gold."  There  are  about  one  thousand  other 
idols  of  various  sizes  in  the  temple  at  Bangkok. 

The  men  in  this  city  were  permitted  thirty  wives,  if 
they  could  support  them,  the  first  wife  being  held  in 
the  highest  consideration.  They  endowed  their  wives 
with  cattle,  slaves,  and  money.  If  a  man  disliked  any 
wife,  "  he  just  turned  her  off  and  took  another." 

Marco  visited  Karakorum,  the  Mongol  headquarters 
till  1256,  when  Mangu  Khan  transferred  the  government 
to  Kaipingfu,  north  of  Peking.     Karakorum  is  north  of 


MAliCO  POLO.  93 

the  Gobi  desert.  It  was  founded  in  the  eighth  century, 
and  is  said  to  have  been  the  residence  of  Prester  John,  if 
that  mythical  person  ever  existed.  All  Europe  from  the 
eleventh  to  the  thirteenth  century  believed  that  a  Chris- 
tian king  ruled  over  a  vast  area  at  the  East,  and  called 
him  Presbyter  Johannes. 

Marco  Polo  heard  that  the  ruler  of  the  Tartars,  Genghis 
Khan,  a  man  whom  he  thought  to  be  of  great  worth,  — 
probably  Marco  had  forgotten  how  many  countries  he  had 
laid  waste,  —  desired  to  marry  the  daughter  of  Prester 
John,  whereat  the  latter  was  very  angry,  and  said  to  the 
envoys  who  came  for  her,  "  What  impudence  is  this,  to 
ask  my  daughter  to  wife  !  Wist  he  not  well  that  he  was 
my  liegeman  and  serf  ?  Go  ye  back  to  him  and  tell  him 
that  I  had  liever  set  my  daughter  in  the  fire  than  give 
her  in  marriage  to  him,  and  that  he  deserves  death  at 
my  hands,  rebel  and  traitor  that  he  is  ! " 

When  Genghis  Khan  heard  this  message,  "  such  rage 
seized  him  that  his  heart  came  nigh  to  bursting  within 
him."  He  levied  a  great  host,  and  proceeded  against 
Prester  John  as  soon  as  possible.  A  dreadful  battle  fol- 
lowed with  heavy  losses,  and  Genghis  Khan  gained  the 
victory.  Genghis  Khan,  according  to  some  authorities, 
married  the  daughter  of  Prester  John,  and  others  say 
his  niece.  He  had  a  dream  in  which  he  was  divinely 
commanded  to  give  her  away,  and  this  he  hastened  to 
do  the  next  morning. 

Genghis  Khan  died  during  his  third  expedition  against 
Tibet  in  1227,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six.  Some  say  that  he 
was  killed  by  an  arrow,  and  others  that  he  was  mortally 
injured  by  the  beautiful  queen  of  Tibet,  Kurbeljin  Goa 
Khatun,  who  then  went  and  drowned  herself  in  the 
Hoang-Ho,  which  thereafter  the  Mongols  called  Khatun- 


94  MARCO  POLO. 

gol,  or  lady's  river.  It  is  said  that  forty  noble  and 
beautiful  girls,  as  well  as  many  superb  horses,  were 
killed  at  his  death  so  that  they  might  serve  him  in  the 
other  world.  He  Avas  borne  to  his  grave  on  a  two- 
wheeled  wagon,  the  whole  host  escorting  it,  and  wailing 
as  they  went.     One  of  his  old  comrades  sang  :  — 

"  Whilom  thou  didst  swoop  like  a  falcon:  a  rumbling  wagon  now 
trundles  thee  off : 

O  my  king! 
Hast  thou  in  truth  then  forsaken  thy  wife  and  thy  children  and 
the  Diet  of-thy  people? 

O  my  king! 
Circling  in  pride  like  an  eagle  whilom  thou  didst  lead  us, 

O  my  king! 
But  now  thou  hast  stumbled  and  fallen,  like  an  unbroken  colt, 

O  my  king! 

This  custom  of  killing  persons  to  serve  their  superiors 
in  the  other  world  was  common  among  the  Tartars. 
Marco  says  that  when  Mangu  Khan  died,  in  the  heart 
of  crowded  China,  all  who  were  met  on  the  road  to  the 
place  of  burial  were  put  to  death  in  order  that  they 
might  serve  him  — twenty  thousand  persons  in  all. 

The  Tartar  houses  were  circular,  made  of  boards  and 
covered  with  felt.  Whenever  they  wished  to  move  to 
some  other  town,  these  houses  were  put  on  wagons 
drawn  by  twenty  or  more  oxen,  ten  oxen  abreast.  The 
distance  between  the  wheel-tracks  was  often  twenty 
feet. 

Marco  says  that  the  women  did  all  the  buying  and 
selling  and  whatever  was  necessary  to  provide  for  the 
family,  "  for  the  men  lead  the  life  of  gentlemen,  trou- 
bling themselves  about  nothing  but  hunting  and  hawk- 


MARCO  POLO.  95 

ing  and  looking  after  their  goshawks  and  falcons,  unless 
it  be  the  practice  of  warlike  exercises." 

They  ate  all  kinds  of  flesh,  including  that  of  horses 
and  dogs,  and  "  Pharaoh's  rats,"  probably  the  gerboa  of 
Arabia  and  north  Africa.  Their  drink  was  mare's  milk, 
which  they  put  into  vessels  of  horse-skin,  and  then  add- 
ing some  cows'  milk  which  was  sour,  fermentation  took 
place.  It  was  also  churned  with  a  staff  which  stood  in 
the  vessel.  After  three  or  four  days  the  koumiss  was  ready 
to  drink.  This  is  the  beverage  of  the  Mongols  at  the 
present  day,  and  is  said  to  be  a  valuable  tonic,  especially 
useful  in  consumption. 

They  worshipped  a  God  in  heaven  to  whom  they 
prayed  daily ;  and  besides  Him  they  had  a  god,  a  felt  or 
cloth  figure  of  whom  was  in  every  house,  with  images  of 
his  wife  and  children  around  him.  When  they  ate  their 
meals  they  greased  the  mouths  of  the  god  and  his  family 
with  the  fat  of  their  meat,  and  then  believed  that  these 
had  had  their  share  of  the  dinner. 

The  wealthy  Tartars  wore  gold  and  silk  stuffs,  lined 
with  costly  furs,  such  as  sable  and  ermine. 

They  were  capable  of  enduring  the  greatest  hardships. 
"  When  they  are  going  on  a  distant  expedition,"  says 
Marco,  "they  take  no  gear  with  them  except  two  leather 
bottles  for  milk,  and  a  little  earthenware  pot  to  cook 
their  meat  in,  and  a  little  tent  to  shelter  them  from  the 
rain ;  and  in  case  of  great  urgency,  they  will  ride  ten 
days  on  end  without  lighting  a  fire  or  taking  a  meal. 
<  )n  such  an  occasion  they  will  sustain  themselves  on  the 
blood  of  their  horses,  opening  a  vein  and  letting  the 
blood  jet  into  their  mouths." 

Their  laws  were  severe  against  theft.  For  horse-steal- 
ing they  cut  a  man  in  two.     For  a  petty  theft  they  beat 


96  MARCO  POLO. 

him  with  sticks,  from  which  beating  the  person  not  in- 
frequently died.  A  man  in  whose  possession  some  stolen 
animal  was  found  was  obliged  to  restore  to  the  owner 
nine  of  the  same  value  ;  if  he  could  not,  his  children 
were  seized  as  compensation  ;  "  if  he  have  no  children, 
he  is  slaughtered  like  a  mutton,"  says  Ibn-Battuta. 

These  Tartars  married  dead  people  to  each  other.  If  a 
man  had  a  daughter  who  died  before  marriage,  and 
another  had  a  son  who  had  also  died  before  marriage, 
while  the  coffins  were  in  the  house  —  and  these  were 
sometimes  kept  for  months  —  a  wedding  took  place  by 
regular  contract,  with  the  usual  presents,  music,  and 
much  ceremony.  Then  the  papers  of  contract  were 
burned  that  the  young  people  in  the  other  world  might 
know  it,  and  look  upon  each  other  as  legally  married. 
The  bodies  were  usually  buried  in  the  same  grave.  The 
parents  therefore  felt  that  their  families  were  related  to 
each  other. 

The  Ingushes  of  the  Caucasas,  says  one  historian, 
have  a  similar  custom.  "  If  a  man's  son  dies,  another 
who  has  lost  his  daughter  goes  to  the  father  and  says, 
'  Thy  son  will  want  a  wife  in  the  other  world ;  I  will 
give  him  my  daughter ;  pay  me  the  price  of  the  bride.' 
Such  a  demand  is  never  refused,  even  though  the  pur- 
chase of  the  bride  amount  to  thirty  cows." 

Marco  saw  the  Yak  in  Tibet,  "  wild  cattle  as  big  as 
elephants,  splendid  creatures,  covered  everywhere  but 
on  the  back  with  shaggy  hair  a  good  four  palms  long. 
They  are  partly  black,  partly  white,  and  really  wonder- 
fully fine  creatures,  and  the  hair  or  wool  is  extremely 
fine  and  white,  finer  and  whiter  than  silk.  Messer  Marco 
brought  some  to  Venice  as  a  great  curiosity,  and  so  it 
was  reckoned  by  those  who  saw  it." 


MARCO  POLO.  97 

Marco  devotes  many  pages  of  his  book  to  the  "  won- 
derful magnificence  of  the  Great  Khan  now  reigning,  by 
name  Kubiai  Khan,"  the  latter  word  signifying  "  The 
Great  Lord  of  Lords."  Genghis  Khan  believed  in  the 
genius  of  his  young  grandson,  and  said  on  his  death-bed, 
"  The  words  of  the  lad  Kubiai  are  well  worth  attention ; 
see  all  of  you  that  ye  heed  what  he  says !  One  day  he 
will  sit  in  my  seat  and  bring  you  good  fortune  such  as 
you  have  had  in  my  day  ! " 

Kubiai  was  born  in  August,  1216,  the  fourth  son  of 
Tuli,  who  was  the  youngest  of  Genghis's  four  sons  by  his 
favorite  wife,  Biute  Fujin.  His  brothers  disputed  his 
claim  to  the  throne,  but  he  maintained  his  right  by  his 
superior  ability.  His  cousin  Nay  an,  not  wishing  to  be 
under  Kubiai,  raised  an  army  of  four  hundred  thousand 
men  against  him.  Kubiai  also  raised  a  large  force,  and 
went  himself  to  the  place  of  battle,  mounted  on  a  great 
wooden  bartizan,  borne  by  four  well-trained  elephants, 
his  standard  high  aloft  over  him,  so  that  all  the  army 
could  see  it.  His  horsemen  each  had  a  foot-soldier,  with 
a  lance,  sitting  behind  hi  in.  Before  joining  in  battle  all 
played  and  sang  on  a  two-stringed  instrument ;  and  when 
the  nakkaroh,  or  great  kettle-drum,  four  feet  in  diame- 
ter, began  to  sound,  then  all  rushed  to  arms,  "with  their 
bows  and  their  maces,  with  their  lances  and  swords,  and 
with  the  arblasts  of  the  footmen,  that  it  was  a  wondrous 
sight  to  see.  Now  might  you  behold  such  flights  of 
arrows  from  this  side  and  from  that,  that  the  Avhole 
heaven  was  canopied  with  them  and  they  fell  like 
rain." 

Two  of  the  great  nakkarohs  were  usually  carried  on  an 
elephant,  while  a  man  sat  astride  the  elephant  and  dealt 
strong  blows  on  each  drum  with  his  hands. 


98  MARCO  POLO. 

There  were  not  fewer  thau  seven  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  horsemen,  not  reckoning  the  footmen.  Kublai 
was  victorious,  and  Nay  an  was  utterly  routed,  as  no  quar- 
ter was  given.  Nayan  was  made  prisoner,  and  after- 
wards put  to  death  by  being  tossed  to  and  fro  in  a 
carpet,  because,  as  he  was  of  the  Imperial  line,  it  would 
not  do  to  spill  his  blood. 

Kublai,  although  he  reigned  long,  never  went  in  per- 
son to  battle  again,  but  sent  his  sons  or  his  officials. 
Upon  his  successful  warriors  he  bestowed  titles,  and 
gave  them  tablets  of  authority.  All  such  persons,  when- 
ever they  went  abroad,  had  a  golden  umbrella  carried 
high  on  a  spear  over  their  heads,  in  token  of  their  great 
rank.  Each  dignitary  always  sat  in  a  silver  chair.  - 
Kublai  was  "of  good  stature,  neither  tall  nor  short ;  his 
complexion  red  and  white,  and  his  eyes  black  and  fine." 
He  had  four  superior  wives,  each  of  whom  was  attended 
by  about  three  hundred  charming  damsels,  with  pages 
and  other  attendants  of  both  sexes.  Each  of  these 
ladies,  says  Marco,  "  had  not  less  than  ten  thousand  per- 
sons attached  to  her  court." 

Of  lesser  wives  Kublai  had  a  great  number,  chosen 
from  a  tribe  of  Tartars  called  Nugrot,  celebrated  for 
their  beauty.  Besides  beauty  they  were  obliged  to  have 
sweet  breath,  and  not  snore  in  their  sleep  !  Two  of 
Kublai's  wives,  including  the  best-beloved  Jamui  Khatun, 
were  from  this  tribe.  Of  Kublai's  twenty-two  sons  by 
the  four  principal  wives,  the  eldest,  Chinkin,  died  when 
he  was  forty-three,  and  Teimur,  his  third  son,  was  named 
as  Kublai's  successor.  Chinkin's  eldest  son,  Kampala, 
squinted,  so  not  being  perfect  physically,  was  not  eligi- 
ble to  the  throne.  The  second  son,  Tar  mail,  was  feeble 
in  body. 


MARCO  POLO.  99 

Kublai  Khan  lived  in  a  magnificent  palace  at  Cam- 
baluc  (  Peking  ).  "  The  hall  of  the  palace,"  says  Marco, 
"  is  so  large  that  it  could  easily  dine  six  thousand  peo- 
ple. The  outside  of  the  roof  is  all  covered  with  vermil- 
ion and  yellow  and  blue  and  other  hues,  which  are  fixed 
with  a  varnish  so  fine  and  exquisite  that  they  shine  like 
crystal,  and  lend  a  resplendent  lustre  to  the  palace,  as 
seen  for  a  great  way  round." 

This  palace  was  surrounded  by  a  high  wall,  one  mile 
in  length  on  each  side.  At  each  corner  and  midway  be- 
tween was  a  fine  palace  where  the  Emperor  kept  ins 
war  harness,  his  saddles,  and  everything  needful  for  his 
army ;  eight  palaces  in  all.  The  great  wall  had  five 
gates,  no  one  but  the  Emperor  ever  passing  out  of  the 
middle  gate.  Beyond  his  own  palace  were  many  other 
palaces  for  the  women  of  the  household.  In  the  great 
parks  around  his  palace  were  white  stags,  fallow  deer, 
gazelles,  and  squirrels  of  many  kinds.  A  large  lake  over 
a  mile  long,  abounding  with  fish,  was  in  his  park,  and  an 
artificial  mound  one  hundred  paces  high,  covered  with 
evergreens.  The  mountain  itself  was  also  covered  with 
some  kind  of  mineral,  giving  it  a  green  appearance. 

Kublai's  summer  palace  at  Kaipingfu  was  also  very 
beautiful.  A  wall  sixteen  miles  long  was  built  around 
the  parks,  lakes,  and  fountains.  Here  the  Khan  kept 
more  than  two  hundred  gerfalcons.  He  also  built  a  pal- 
ace of  cane,  gilt  inside  and  outside.  The  canes  were 
three  palms  in  circumference  and  from  ten  to  fifteen 
paces  high.  The  palace  was  stayed  by  more  than  two 
hundred  cords  of  silk. 

The  Khan  kept  more  than  ten  thousand  white  horses, 
"  all  pure  white,  without  a  speck."  The  milk  of  the 
mares    he    and    his    family    drank,    no    one    else    being 


100  MARCO  POLO. 

allowed  to  use  it,  except  one  tribe,  the  Horiad,  because 
they  had  helped  Genghis  Khan  win  a  victory  years 
before.  Whenever  these  mares  Avere  passing  across  the 
country,  no  one  must  go  before  them,  but  wait  till  they 
had  passed,  as  these  animals  were  treated  with  the 
greatest  respect.  White  horses  were  presented  to  the 
Khan  in  homage  on  New  Year's  Day. 

Marco  saw  many  marvellous  feats  performed  by  the  sor- 
cerers, the  Bacsi.  There  are  still  thousands  of  jugglers 
in  China  and  India,  who  do  some  wonderful  things. 
Marco  saw  the  Emperor's  wine  cups  moved  about  ten 
paces,  seemingly  without  hands,  and  offered  to  the  latter 
to  drink.     This  was  probably  done  by  hidden  machinery. 

Cambaluc  (Peking)  is  of  very  ancient  date.  It  was 
the  capital  of  the  kingdom  of  Yen  222  B.  C.  Genghis 
Khan  captured  it  in  1215,  under  the  name  of  Yenking. 
Kublai  founded  a  new  city  a  little  north-east  of  old 
Yenking.  The  existing  Tartar  city  of  Peking  stands 
on  the  site  of  Kublai's  city.  The  latter  was  eighteen 
miles  in  circumference.  Both  cities  together  measure 
about  twenty-six  miles.  It  is  surrounded  by  walls  about 
thirty  feet  high  and  twenty-five  feet  in  width.  At  each 
of  the  twelve  gates  in  Marco's  time  there  were  a  thou- 
sand armed  men,  as  a  guard  of  honor  to  the  sovereign. 
He  also  kept  a  guard  of  twelve  thousand  horsemen. 
Three  thousand  of  these  guarded  the  palace  for  three 
days  and  three  nights,  and  these  were  then  relieved  by 
another  three  thousand. 

At  the  feasts  of  ceremony  the  great  Khan  sat  at  an 
elevated  table,  with  his  chief  wife  on  the  left.  On  his 
right  were  his  sons  and  other  kinsmen  at  tables,  with 
their  heads  on  a  level  with  the  Emperor's  feet.  The 
highest  officials  and  other  women  sat  at  tables  lower  still, 


MAliCO  POLO.  101 

so  that  the  Khan  could  look  out  upon  them  all.  A 
greater  part  of  the  officers  and  soldiers  sat  on  the  carpet 
while  they  ate,  and  forty  thousand  persons  were  outside 
on  various  errands  —  many  bringing  gifts  to  the  Emperor. 
The  drinking- vessels  were  of  gold,  and  beautifully  carved. 

Those  who  waited  upon  the  Khan  were  barons  ;  and 
these  had  their  mouths  covered  with  napkins  of  silk 
and  gold,  so  that  no  breath  should  taint  the  dish  or 
goblet  presented  to  the  King.  When  he  drank,  all  the 
musicians  played,  and  the  company  dropped  on  their 
knees  and  made  obeisance  to  him. 

The  Khan's  greatest  feasts  were  on  his  birthday  and 
at  New  Year's.  He  then  appeared  in  robes  wrought 
with  beaten  gold,  and  his  twelve  thousand  barons  and 
knights  wore  the  same  color.  Thirteen  times  a  year 
the  Khan  presented 'suits  of  raiment  to  his  retinue,  so 
that  all  might  have  the  color  which  he  wore. 

At  the  New  Year's  feast  all  wore  white,  because  they 
thought  white  clothing  was  lucky.  More  than  one  hun- 
dred thousand  white  horses,  richly  caparisoned,  were 
brought  as  gifts  to  the  Khan.  It  was  customary  to 
present  nine  times  nine  articles,  eighty-one  horses,  or 
eighty-one  pieces  of  gold. 

Arminius  Vambery  says  of  the  marriage  price  among 
the  Uzbegs :  "  The  question  is  always  how  many  times 
nine  sheep,  cows,  camels,  or  horses,  or  how  many  times 
nine  ducats  the  father  is  to  receive  for  giving  up  his 
daughter." 

The  whole  of  the  Khan's  elephants,  five  thousand, 
covered  with  inlaid  cloths  representing  beasts  and  birds, 
were  exhibited,  each  carrying  on  his  back  two  coffers 
filled  with  plate  required  for  the  White  Feast.  These 
were  followed  by  a  vast  number  of  camels  laden  with 


102  MARCO  POLO. 

things  needful  for  the  festivities.  No  wonder  the  peo- 
ple thought  theirs  a  wonderful  empire,  and  their  Khan 
the  greatest  monarch  of  the  earth.  Before  the  feast  all 
the  officials  came  to  the  hall  of  the  palace,  and  at  a 
given  signal  bowed  their  faces  to  the  floor  four  times, 
before  the  Emperor  "  as  if  he  were  a  god.  Then  all  the 
rich  and  costly  presents  are  seen  by  the  Emperor.  A 
lion  is  also  brought  before  the  Khan,  which  lies  down 
with  every  indication  of  reverence." 

Marco  says  the  Emperor  was  a  great  hunter,  and  kept 
leopards  and  several  lions  to  catch  wild  cattle,  bears, 
and  stags.  Eagles,  also,  Avere  trained  to  catch  wolves, 
foxes,  deer,  and  wild-goats. 

The  Khan  had  two  barons,  Baian  and  Mingan, 
"  Keepers  of  the  mastiff  dogs,"  who  each  had  charge 
of  ten  thousand  men  dressed  alike,  one  body  in  red, 
the  other  in  blue.  When  the  Khan  went  hunting,  he 
had  ten  thousand  men  and  five  thousand  dogs  at  his 
right  hand,  and  the  same  number  at  his  left  hand.  The 
two  men  in  charge  were  obliged  to  furnish  to  the  court 
one  thousand  head  of  game  daily,  from  October  to  the 
end  of  March. 

When  the  Emperor  went  hunting  water-fowl,  he  took 
with  him  "ten  thousand  falconers  and  some  five  hun- 
dred gerfalcons,  besides  peregrines,  sakers,  and  other 
hawks  in  great  numbers." 

"The  Emperor  is  carried,"  says  Marco,  "upon  four 
elephants,  in  a  fine  chamber  made  of  timber,  lined 
inside  with  plates  of  beaten  gold,  and  outside  with 
lions'  skins,  because  he  is  troubled  with  gout.  He 
always  keeps  beside  him  a  dozen  of  his  choicest  ger- 
falcons, and  is  attended  by  several  of  his  barons  who 
ride  on  horseback  alongside." 


MARCO  POLO.  103 

When  the  Emperor  reached  his  hunting-ground  lie 
found  his  tents  pitched,  ten  thousand  in  all,  and  very 
rich  and  tine.  The  tent  in  which  he  held  court  was 
large  enough  to  accommodate  a  thousand  persons.  Each 
of  the  audience  tents  had  three  poles  of  spice-wood. 
The  tents  were  covered  with  lions'  skins,  and  lined 
inside  with  ermine  and  sable,  these  two  being  the 
costliest  of  furs.  The  Tartars  call  the  sable  "  The  king 
of  furs."     The  tent  ropes  were  all  of  silk. 

From  March  to  October  nobody  was  allowed  to  hunt 
the  hare,  stag,  buck,  or  roe,  "  so  that  even  if  a  man  were 
to  find  one  of  those  animals  asleep  by  the  roadside,  he 
would  not  touch  it  for  the  world!"  This  left  an  abun- 
dance for  the  Emperor  and  his  courtiers  and  their  fami- 
lies, from  March  to  the  middle  of  May. 

When  the  hunting  season  was  over  the  Khan  returned 
to  Peking  for  three  days  only,  which  were  spent  in  court 
feasts,  and  then  he  retired  to  his  summer  palace  until 
the  28th  of  August  and  then  back  again  to  Peking. 

Under  Kublai  was  a  leading  official,  Achmath,  who 
had  obtained  great  power  over  the  Emperor.  People 
were  afraid  of  him,  because  they  knew  that  he  was 
unscrupulous ;  therefore  he  had  acquired  vast  wealth 
through  bribes.  At  last  the  people,  in  the  Khan's 
absence,  laid  a  plot  to  kill  him.  They  sent  a  message  to 
Achmath  that  the  Khan's  son  had  arrived,  and  he  must, 
of  course,  meet  him.  The  moment  Achmath  reached  the 
palace  his  head  was  cut  off  witli  a  sword. 

As  soon  as  the  Khan  knew  of  it  the'  three  leaders 
concerned  in  the  murder  were  publicly  executed.  When, 
however,  he  learned  from  Marco  Polo,  Assessor  of  the 
Privy  Council,  and  others,  Achmath's  real  character,  how 
immoral  and  dishonest  he  was,  the  Khan  had   him  dug 


104  MARCO   POLO. 

up,  his  head  cut  off  and  publicly  exposed,  and  his  body 
given  to  the  dogs.  His  sons  were  flayed  alive,  while 
over  seven  hundred  persons  who  had  shared  in  his 
sins  were  punished.  All  his  property  reverted  to  the 
Emperor. 

The  Great  Khan  made  his  own  paper  money  from  the 
inner  bark  of  the  mulberry-tree.  His  orders  were  car- 
ried over  the  vast  empire  by  means  of  messengers. 
Every  twenty-five  miles  was  a  station,  —  a  large  building, 
with  beds  in  rich  silk,  and  about  four  hundred  horses. 
Between  these  stations,  every  three  miles,  were  houses 
for  foot-runners,  who,  girt  with  a  wide  belt  hung  with 
bells,  ran  as  fast  as  possible  to  the  next  station  three 
miles  away.  Other  men  at  these  stations  were  employed 
when  there  was  great  haste,  and  these  went  on  horses. 
If  the  horse  broke  down,  the  rider  was  empowered  to 
take  any  horse  he  found,  and  go  on  his  journey. 

By  the  Emperor's  orders  rows  of  trees  were  planted 
along  the  routes  of  these  messengers,  even  in  the  most 
uninhabited  places.  His  astrologers  had  told  him  a  very 
admirable  thing,  —  that  he  who  plants  trees  lives  long, — 
so,  whether  true  or  not,  the  Khan  rendered  thereby  a 
great  service  to  the  generations  after  him. 

Colonel  Yule  relates  an  incident  of  the  tenth  centmy, 
showing  how  fruit  was  sent  more  quickly  even  than  by 
horse-posts.  Fatimite  Khalif  Aziz  had  a  great  desire 
for  some  cherries  from  Balbek.  The  Wazir  Yakub-ben 
Kills  caused  six  hundred  pigeons  to  be  despatched  from 
Balbek  to  CaiTo,  each  of  which  carried  attached  to  either 
leg  a  small  silk  bag  containing  a  cherry. 

Kublai  Khan,  with  all  his  great  wealth  and  magnifi- 
cent living,  was  extremely  good  to  the  poor  of  his  realm. 
He  caused  great  crranaries  to  be  stored  with  corn  for 


MARCO   POLO.  105 

them  in  time  of  dearth  or  famine.  Every  poor  family- 
could  have  a  large  warm  loaf  daily  by  coming  to  the 
court,  and  about  thirty  thousand  came  each  day  from 
year  to  year.  He  laid  a  tax  upon  wool,  silk,  and  hemp, 
and  the  artisans  gave  one  day  a  week  to  make  these 
stuffs  into  clothes  for  the  poor. 

The  Tartars,  before  they  were  converted  to  Buddhism, 
never  gave  alms,  says  Marco.  When  a  poor  person 
begged  of  them,  they  said,  "  Go  with  God's  curse,  for  if 
He  loved  you  as  He  loves  me,  He  would  have  provided 
for  you  !  " 

To  the  five  thousand  astrologers  and  soothsayers  in 
Peking  the  Khan  gave  food  and  clothing  as  to  the  poor. 

Coal  seems  to  have  been  abundant  and  cheap ;  and 
this  was  necessary,  since  the  people  "  take  a  hot  bath," 
says  Marco,  "  three  times  a  week,  and  in  winter,  if  pos- 
sible, every  day." 

Kublai  was  also  just  to  the  peasantry.  One  of  his 
sons  and  a  few  others,  having  become  separated  from  the 
army,  stayed  at  a  little  village  of  Bishbaligh,  where  the 
people  gave  them  a  sheep  and  wine.  The  next  year  two 
of  the  party  went  that  way  and  demanded  a  sheep  and 
wine.  The  people  gave  it,  but  went  to  the  Khan  and 
told  him  they  feared  the  thing  would  be  done  every 
year.  He  sharply  rebuked  his  son,  and  paid  the  people 
for  the  sheep  and  wine. 

Marco  travelled  for  Kublai  through  Shan-si,  stopping 
at  various  cities.  At  one  city  the  sovereign,  called  the 
Golden  King,  had  in  his  service  none  but  beautiful  girls, 
who  used  to  draw  him  in  a  carriage.  Colonel  Yule  says, 
"  This  precise  custom  was  in  our  own  day  habitually 
reported  of  the  Tai-ping  sovereign  during  his  reign  at 
Nanking.     None  but  women  are  allowed  in  the  interior 


106  •  MARCO  POLO. 

of  the  palace,  and  he  is  drawn  to  the  audience-chamber 
in  a  gilded  sacred  dragon-car  by  the  ladies." 

This  Golden  King  was  at  war  with  Prester  John,  and 
could  not  conquer  him.  Finally,  seventeen  of  Prester 
John's  court  volunteered  to  bring  him  the  Golden  King 
alive.  They  therefore  went  to  the  country  of  the  latter, 
and  entered  his  service  for  two  years,  he,  meantime 
becoming  greatly  attached  to  them.  One  day,  when 
they  accompanied  him  on  a  pleasure  party,  when  alone 
with  him,  they  told  him  that  he  was  their  prisoner  and 
must  go  to  Prester  John. 

He  begged  for  their  compassion,  but  they  carried  him 
away.  Prester  John  was  greatly  rejoiced,  and  set  the 
Golden  King  to  keep  his  cattle.  At  the  end  of  two  years 
he  called  the  Golden  King  before  him,  gave  him  rich 
robes,  and  asked  him,  "  Now,  Sir  King,  art  thou  satisfied 
that  thou  wast  in  no  way  a  man  to  stand  against  me  ?  " 
Then  Prester  John  sent  the  Golden  King  back  to  his 
own  country  with  a  goodly  train,  and  the  latter  was 
thereafter  the  friend  of  Prester  John. 

Marco  spent  some  time  at  Singanfoo,  the  capital  of 
Shen-si,  where  the  third  son  of  Kublai,  Mangalai,  had  a 
great  palace,  the  interior  finished  in  beaten  gold.  This 
city  has  been  the  capital  of  many  ancient  dynasties. 
One  of  the  emperors  had  beautiful  palaces,  gardens,  and 
parks  here  one  hundred  years  before  Christ.  Here,  in 
the  seventh  century,  were  Christian  churches  built  by  the 
Nestorians,  as  shown  by  a  slab  dug  up  a  thousand  years 
afterward  by  some  workmen,  in  1G25.  The  slab  was 
about  seven  feet  by  three,  covered  with  Chinese  inscrip- 
tions (surmounted  by  a  cross),  telling  of  the  missionaries 
and  the  Emperor's  approval  of  building  a  church  in  the 
principal  square  of  the  city. 


MARCO   POLO.  107 

Marco  went  from  one  province  to  another  in  China,  de- 
scribing the  products  of  each  and  the  habits  of  the  people. 
In  Yun-nan  he  saw  great  serpents  ten  paces  long  and 
ten  palms  in  girth,  "with  eyes  bigger  than  a  loaf  of 
bread,  and  mouth  large  enough  to  swallow  a  man  whole." 
The  flesh  was  used  for  food,  and  gall  from  the  inside  of 
the  animal  was  sold  at  a  great  price  as  a  cure  for  the 
bite  of  mad  dogs  and  other  ailments.  The  creatures 
were  probably  crocodiles. 

The  natives  had  a  barbarous  custom  of  killing  any 
noted  person  who  came  among  them,  supposing  that  the 
good  name  and  ability  of  the  murdered  man  would  be 
transferred  to  the  slayers.  Kublai  put  a  stop  to  this  cus- 
tom when  he  conquered  the  people.  It  is  said  that  the 
ancient  Bulgarians  of  the  Volga  had  the  same  supersti- 
tion. If  they  found  a  man  endowed  with  special  intelli- 
gence, they  said,  "  This  man  should  serve  our  Lord  God  ;  " 
and  straightway  they  put  a  noose  around  his  neck  and 
hanged  him  to  a  tree  till  his  body  fell  to  pieces. 

West  of  Yun-nan  lived  a  people  called  "  Gold-Teeth  " 
(Persian,  Zar-dandan),  because  they  covered  the  teeth, 
upper  and  under,  with  gold  plate.  The  men  went  to  war 
and  hunted,  while  the  women  did  the  work.  A  mother 
was  obliged  to  go  to  work  at  once  after  her  child  was 
born,  while  the  father  took  the  infant  and  remained  in 
bed  or  in  the  house  with  it  for  forty  days,  not  once  going 
out-of-doors,  the  mother  waiting  upon  him  and  doing  all 
the  work,  in-doors  and  out.  Yule  says  this  was  the  cus- 
tom among  some  of  the  aborigines  of  the  West  Indies, 
Central  and  South  America,  and  West  Africa. 

Their  money  was  gold,  but  for  small  change  they  used 
shells.  When  they  were  ill,  they  sent  for  conjurers,  who 
kept  the  idols,  and  who  acted  somewhat  after  the  manner 


108  MARCO  POLO. 

of  the  dancing  dervishes,  wallowing  upon  the  ground  and 
foaming  at  the  mouth,  before  the  offended  spirit,  till  the 
man  recovered. 

Marco  visited  Burma,  and  Laos,  and  Anam,  east  of 
Burma.  The  king  of  the  latter  made  war  against  Kublai 
in  1277.  The  Burmese  king  prepared  two  thousand  ele- 
phants, with  towers  of  timber,  in  each  of  which  were 
from  twelve  to  sixteen  armed  men.  He  had  also  sixty- 
thousand  soldiers.  The  Tartar  captains  gave  orders  that 
every  man  should  tie  his  horse  to  a  tree  in  the  forest  and 
shoot  the  elephants  with  their  arrows.  The  elephants, 
wounded,  soon  fled  into  the  woods,  breaking  the  towers 
on  their  backs,  and  injuring  their  riders.  Then  the  bat- 
tle waged  furiously  with  sword  and  mace,  and  Kublai 
was  victorious.  Over  two  hundred  elephants  were  cap- 
tured by  the  victors. 

A  former  king  of  Burma  had  erected  two  towers  of  stone, 
one  covered  with  gold  a  finger  in  thickness,  and  the  other 
with  silver,  with  bells  around  the  top  of  each,  so  that 
the  wind  would  make  them  sound.  These  towers  were 
beside  his  tomb,  which  was  also  plated  with  gold  and 
silver.  As  these  were  erected  for  the  good  of  his  soul, 
Kublai  would  not  allow  them  to  be  disturbed. 

In  the  capture  of  Manzi,  or  Southern  China,  by  Kublai, 
one  city,  Siang-yangfu,  held  out  for  three  years  after  the 
rest  of  Manzi  had  surrendered.  At  the  suggestion  of 
the  Polos,  mangonels  were  made,  —  machines  by  which 
stones  of  three  hundred  weight  or  more  could  be  thrown 
into  the  city.  The  buildings  were  soon  crushed  and  the 
people  surrendered. 

Marco'  describes  the  great  river  Yang-tse-Kiang,  more 
than  one  hundred  days'  journey  from  one  end  to  the 
other,  in  some  places  ten  miles  wide,  "  the  greatest  river 


MARCO   POLO.  109 

in  the  world."  America,  with  its  Mississippi  and  Ama- 
zon, had  not  then  been  discovered.  Up  the  Yang-tse- 
Kiang  there  passed  two  hundred  thousand  vessels  yearly. 
Marco  saw  fifteen  thousand  vessels  on  it  at  one  time. 
On  the  rocky  eminences  along  the  river  idol  monasteries 
were  to  be  seen.  One  on  the  "  Golden  Isle,"  a  little  island 
not  far  from  the  mouth  of  the  river,  was  surmounted  by 
numerous  temples.  The  monastery  had  the  most  famous 
Buddhist  library  in  China.  The  buildings  were  entirely 
destroyed  by  the  Tai-pings  in  1860. 

Marco  describes  Ching-kian-foo,  where  two  churches  of 
Nestorian  Christians  were  built  in  1278.  In  the  war 
between  England  and  China,  in  1842,  the  heroic  Manchu, 
commandant,  seated  himself  among  his  records,  and  then 
set  fire  to  the  building,  and  perished  in  it,  rather  than  fall 
into  the  hands  of  the  English. 

Travelling  south-east  one  reaches  Changchow,  captured 
by  General  Gordon  in  1864.  When  Kublai  conquered 
Southern  China,  a  company  of  Alans,  who  called  them- 
selves Christians,  were  sent  to  take  this  city.  Finding 
some  wine  after  they  had  entered  the  place,  they  all  be- 
came dead  drunk,  and  at  night  the  people  of  the  city  fell 
upon  them  and  slew  them.  This  enraged  Bayan,  who  had 
charge  of  the  Great  Khan's  forces,  so  he  sent  a  larger 
army  and  exterminated  the  whole  population.  Some  his- 
torians say  that  he  boiled  the  bodies.  Genghis  Khan,  it 
is  said,  heated  seventy  caldrons  after  one  of  his  victories 
and  boiled  his  prisoners.  Such  was  war  in  barbarous 
times. 

Marco  greatly  admired  Quinsay,  which  means  the  City 
of  Heaven,  and  which  is  now  called  Hangchow.  There 
were  twelve  guilds  of  different  crafts  in  the  city,  and  each 
guild  had  twelve  thousand  houses  for  its  workmen.     Tn- 


110  MARCO  POLO. 

side  the  city  was  a  lake  thirty  miles  in  circumference, 
around  which  the  wealthy  built  palaces.  There  were 
also  spacious  halls  on  two  islands  in  the  middle  of  the 
lake,  where  marriage  feasts  were  held,  and  where  some- 
times a  hundred  entertainments  were  being  enjoyed  at 
the  same  time.  This  provision  was  made  by  the  Emperor 
for  the  pleasure  of  his  people. 

At  every  bridge  —  and  Marco  says  there  were  twelve 
thousand  —  was  stationed  a  guard  of  twelve  men,  who 
with  a  piece  of  wood  and  a  metal  basin  struck  the  hour 
of  the  night.  In  case  of  fire  they  beat  the  alarm,  and  the 
guards  from  all  the  bridges  near  hastened  thither,  with 
the  owners  of  the  property.  No  others  dared  leave  their 
houses  at  night,  as  persons  were  arrested  if  found  on  the 
street  after  a  certain  hour. 

The  city  of  Quinsay,  with  sixteen  hundred  thousand 
houses,  had  three  thousand  hot  baths,  each  so  large  that 
one  hundred  persons  could  bathe  together.  All  our  cities 
would  do  well  to  copy  in  this  matter  the  Chinese  who 
seven  centuries  ago  were  so  wise  in  providing  baths  for 
the  people.  A  modern  writer  says,  "  Only  the  poorer 
classes  in  Hangchow  go  to  the  public  baths ;  the  trades 
people  and  middle  classes  are  generally  supplied  by  the 
bath-houses  with  hot  water  at  a  moderate  charge."  The 
people  bathe  daily. 

In  this  city  was  the  magnificent  palace  of  the  Emperor 
of  Southern  China.  The  walls  enclosing  the  palace  and 
its  beautiful  gardens  and  fountains  were  ten  miles  long. 
The  palace  contained  twenty  halls  finished  in  gold, 
besides  one  thousand  chambers  beautifully  painted  in 
various  colors. 

In  some  of  the  pavilions  the  King  used  to  entertain 
ten  thousand  persons  at  a  feast,  which  would  last  for 


MARCO   POLO.  Ill 

ten  or  twelve  days.  A  covered  corridor,  six  paces  in 
width,  led  to  the  lake.  On  either  side  were  ten  courts 
in  the  form  of  oblong  cloisters  surrounded  by  colonnades, 
and  in  each  cloister  were  fifty  chambers  with  gardens  to 
each.  In  these  chambers  were  one  thousand  young  ladies 
in  the  service  of  the  King. 

At  Quinsay  there  were  ten  large  markets,  held  in  the 
squares  of  the  city  three  times  a  week,  frequented  by 
forty  or  fifty  thousand  people.  Here  Marco  saw  all 
kinds  of  fruits,  vegetables,  and  meats.  The  pears 
weighed  ten  pounds  apiece.  Colonel  Yule  says  he  has 
seen  pears  in  Covent  Garden  market  that  must  have 
weighed  seven  or  eight  pounds  apiece,  which  sold  for 
eighteen  guineas  a  dozen  — over  ninety  dollars. 

Colonel  Yule  thinks  this  city  of  Quinsay  was  the  great- 
est then  existing  in  the  world.  Many  other  ancient 
travellers  confirm  Marco's  account  of  the  number  of 
bridges  (twelve  thousand),  the  great  wealth  and  extent 
of  the  city — one  hundred  miles  in  circumference — the 
hundreds  of  idol  temples  where  from  one  to  two  thou- 
sand monks  lived  in  each,  the  paved  squares  and  streets, 
and  the  elegantly  dressed  people. 

Marco  Polo  was  sent  by  the  Khan,  after  the  latter  had 
conquered  this  city,  to  inspect  the  revenue  and  to  see 
that  correct  returns  were  made  of  sugar,  salt,  wine,  etc. 
Marco  says  about  fifty  million  dollars  were  paid  yearly 
to  the  Khan.  Silk  paid  ten  per  cent.  No  wonder  that 
Kublai  could  support  twenty  thousand  men  as  keepers 
of  his  dogs,  when  one  city  yielded  such  revenue  as  this. 

Marco  Polo  next  travelled  to  Cipango  (Japan)  where 
he  found  the  people  "  white,  civilized,  and  well-favored/' 
The  palace  of  the  king  seemed  to  be  of  gold,  with  the 
floors  made  in  plates  like  slabs  of  stone,  all  seeming  to  be 


112  MARCO  POLO. 

pure  gold,  and  by  many  believed  to  be  such.  Both  white 
and  rose-colored  pearls  were  in  abundance.  When  a  per- 
son died,  a  pearl  was  placed  in  his  mouth. 

Kublai  Khan  was  very  eager  to  conquer  such  a  rich 
country,  and  sent  a  fleet  with  one  hundred  thousand  men 
against  it.  The  fleet  was  scattered  by  a  storm,  and  the 
Mongols  were  defeated,  thirty  thousand  men  put  to 
death,  and  seventy  thousand  Coreans  and  Chinese  were 
made  slaves.  It  is  stated  that  only  three  men  were 
spared  to  be  sent  back  to  Kublai  to  tell  him  what  had 
become  of  his  one  hundred  thousand.  The  Great  Khan 
wished  to  send  another  fleet,  but  there  was  such  opposi- 
tion to  the  scheme  that  he  abandoned  it. 

Marco  visited  Cochin  China,  in  Anam,  which  became 
subject  to  Kublai.  The  king  had  three  hundred  and 
twenty-six  children  and  fourteen  thousand  tame  ele- 
phants. 

Sailing  fifteen  hundred  miles  south-east,  Marco  reached 
the  island  of  Java,  which  he  found  to  have  surpassing 
wealth  in  spices.  Kublai  tried  to  conquer  Java  ;  but  his 
ambassador,  Mengki,  was  sent  back  to  China  with  his 
face  branded  like  that  of  a  thief.  A  great  armament 
started  out  from  the  ports  of  Fo-kien  to  avenge  this 
insult,  but  they  accomplished  little.  The  death  of  Ku. 
blai  prevented  any  further  attempt  at  subjugation. 

In  Java  the  Less  (Sumatra)  Marco  found  some  tribes 
of  Cannibals  who  always  ate  their  prisoners.  If  the 
sorcerers  told  them  that  a  sick  man  would  die,  they 
smothered  him,  and  ate  him.  Sometimes  they  exposed 
their  dead  in  coffins  upon  rocks  by  the  sea.  Many  ele- 
phants, monkeys,  and  the  so-called  unicorns  were  seen 
in  Sumatra.  The  Semangs  of  the  Malay  Peninsula  are 
said  to  destroy  the  unicorn  in  this   manner.     His  whole 


MARCO   POLO.  113 

body  is  often  immersed  in  mud,  with  only  a  part  of 
his  head  visible.  When  the  dry  weather  comes  and 
the  mud  hardens,  it  is  difficult  for  the  animal  to  extricate 
himself.  The  Semangs  build  an  immense  fire  over  him, 
and  he  is  soon  destroyed  and  ready  to  be  eaten. 

The  natives  ate  rice  and  drank  wine  from  the  Gomuti 
palm,  which,  when  nine  or  ten  years  old,  yields  it  from 
any  cut  branch,  three  quarts  a  day  for  about  two  years. 

In  Sumatra,  where  Marco  with  two  thousand  men  in 
his  company  stayed  five  months,  detained  by  contrary 
winds,  he  found  camphor  "  worth  its  weight  in  gold," 
and  sago,  which  he  and  his  party  made  into  bread  and 
found  it  excellent.  Says  a  modern  writer,  "  The  cam- 
phor tree  attracts  beyond  all  the  traveller's  observation 
by  its  straight  columnar  and  colossal  gray  trunk  and  its 
mighty  crown  of  foliage,  rising  high  above  the  canopy 
of  the  forest.  It  exceeds  in  dimensions  the  Rosamola, 
the  loftiest  tree  of  Java,  and  is  probably  the  greatest 
tree  of  the  Archipelago,  if  not  of  the  world,  reaching  a 
height  of  two  hundred  feet.  .  .  .  The  camphor  is  found 
in  small  quantities,  one  quarter  to  a  pound,  in  fissuredike 
hollows  in  the  stem.  Many  trees  are  cut  down  in  vain 
or  split  up  the  side  without  finding  camphor." 

The  sago  is  the  pith  of  the  tree,  which  is  put  into 
tubs  of  water  and  stirred  with  a  wooden  spoon.  The 
flour  sinks  to  the  bottom,  while  the  bran  comes  to  the 
top  and  is  thrown  away.  One  tree  will  sometimes  yield 
nearly  a  thousand  pounds  of  sago,  which  will  support  a 
man  a  year. 

At  the  Andaman  Islands,  in  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  Marco 
found  a  tribe  small  in  stature,  "no  better  than  wild  beasts." 
They  were  black  with  woolly  hair,  ate  men  alive,  were 
naked,  and  murdered  the  crews  of  wrecked  vessels. 


114  MARCO   POLO. 

In  Ceylon,  Marco  saw  precious  stones,  among  them 
some  large  rubies.  It  is  said  that  the  Emperor  of  China, 
in  the  fourteenth  century,  purchased  for  his  cap  a  car- 
buncle which  weighed  more  than  an  ounce.  When  worn 
at  a  grand  levee,  the  lustre  filled  the  palace ;  hence  it 
was  called  the  "Red  Palace-illuminator." 

In  a  high  mountain  in  Ceylon  the  people  believe 
Adam  was  buried,  and  make  pilgrimages  to  the  grave  ; 
but  the  Buddhists  think  it  was  Buddha.  In  Marco's 
time  Buddha  had  been  worshipped  about  eighteen  cen- 
turies. He  was  the  son  of  a  king,  married  at  sixteen  to 
the  beautiful  Yasodhara,  with  forty  thousand  princesses 
in  his  harem.  He  had  been  kept  in  three  elegant  pal- 
aces away  from  the  world,  lest  he  should,  if  he  once 
knew  the  evil  and  sorrow  in  it,  be  led  to  become  an 
ascetic.  Driving  out  one  day  in  a  chariot  with  four 
white  horses,  he  saw  an  old  man,  and  learned  for 
the  first  time  that  old  age  was  the  portion  of  many. 
Later  he  saw  a  leper,  and  then  a  dead  man,  and  learned 
that  disease  and  death  come  to  all.  He  left  his  wife 
and  infant  son  at  the  palace,  and  thereafter,  till  his 
death  at  eighty,  devoted  himself  to  doing  good  to  the 
world  through  a  life  of  self-sacrifice.  Buddha's  alms- 
pot  in  Ceylon  has  been  revered  for  centuries.  A  poor 
man  could  fill  it  with  a  few  flowers,  but  a  rich  man  could 
hardly  be  able  with  ten  thousand  bushels  of  rice.  It 
was  still  at  Ceylon  a  few  years  ago,  though  it  had  been 
carried  to  other  countries  several  times.  A  sacred  tooth 
is  still  in  the  island,  and  another  at  Foo-Choo. 

From  Ceylon,  Marco  Polo  visited  India.  He  describes 
the  fishing  for  pearls.  The  fishers  go  out  into  the  gulf 
in  vessels,  and  then,  after  anchoring,  get  into  small  boats 
and  jump  into  the  water  where  it  is  from  four  to  twelve 


MARCO   POLO.  115 

fathoms  deep,  remaining  as  long  as  they  can  hold  their 
breath.  They  put  the  shells  which  contain  the  pearls  in 
a  net  bag  around  the  waist.  The  time  for  fishing  is  in 
March  and  April,  just  between  the  cessation  of  the 
north-east  and  commencement  of  the  south-west  monsoon. 
There  are  now,  as  then,  shark-charmers,  who  are  hired 
to  keep  the  sharks  from  harming  the  divers,  receiving 
one-twentieth  of  all  the  pearls  found  for  their  supposed 
valuable  services. 

The  natives  of  Eastern  India  were  naked,  save  a  scrap 
of  cloth  about  the  loins.  The  King  wore  a  piece  of  fine 
cloth  about  the  middle  of  the  body,  and  a  necklace  of 
precious  stones,  rubies,  sapphires,  and  emeralds.  From 
his  neck  he  wore  suspended  on  a  silk  thread  one  hun- 
dred and  four  large  pearls  and  rubies,  because  he  had  to 
say  that  number  of  prayers  daily  to  his  idols.  His  an- 
cestors bequeathed  the  string  of  pearls  to  him  for  that 
purpose.  He  wore  also  three  golden  bracelets  set  with 
pearls,  anklets  on  his  legs,  and  rings  on  his  toes. 

This  King  had  five  hundred  wives.  Colonel  Yule  says 
the  necklace  taken  from  the  neck  of  the  Hindu  King 
Jaipal,  captured  by  Mahmiid  in  1001,  was  composed  of 
large  pearls  and  rubies,  worth  a  half-million  dollars  ! 

When  any  king  died,  several  barons  burnt  themselves 
in  the  fire  which  consumed  his  body,  so  as  to  be  his  com- 
panions in  the  other  world.  Until  recent  years  women 
burnt  themselves  at  the  death  of  their  husbands. 

The  criminals  condemned  to  death  were  allowed  by 
the  government  to  commit  suicide  as  a  sacrifice  to  a 
favorite  god. 

The  people  washed  the  whole  body  twice  every  day. 
They  fed  their  horses  boiled  meat  and  rice.  Ghee,  or 
boiled  butter,  is  said  to  be  given  now  by  natives  to  all 


116  MARCO  POLO. 

their  horses.     Some  give  a  sheep's  head  occasionally  to 
strengthen  the  animals. 

St.  Thomas  was  believed  to  be  buried  at  Mailapur, 
near  Madras.  Pilgrimages  were  made  thither  by  both 
Christians  and  Saracens,  and  earth  from  his  tomb  was 
used  for  miraculous  cures. 

Marco  tells  of  some  of  the  Hindu  ascetics  who  lived 
on  rice  and  milk,  went  naked  because  they  were  "thus 
born  into  the  world  and  desired  to  have  nothing  about 
them  that  is  of  the  world,"  would  not  kill  a  fly  or  a  flea 
because  all  have  souls,  slept  on  the  ground  without  cloth- 
ing over  or  under  them,  fasted  every  day  in  the  year, 
and  drank  water  only. 

For  any  supposed  insults  duels  were  fought  before  the 
King.  They  could  not  use  the  point  of  the  sword,  as 
this  was  prohibited.  All  the  people  flocked  to  see  the 
duel,  which  was  continued  till  one  party  was  left  for  dead. 

At  Coilum  (Quilon)  Marco  saw  much  Brazil  wood,  — 
the  natives  plant  the  seeds  at  the  birth  of  a  daughter, 
and  when  the  trees  come  to  maturity  in  fourteen  or  fif- 
teen years,  their  sale  becomes  her  dowry,  —  pepper,  and 
indigo. 

"The  indigo,"  says  Marco,  "is  made  of  a  certain  herb 
which  is  gathered,  and  is  put  into  great  vessels  upon 
which  they  pour  water  and  then  leave  it  till  the  whole 
of  the  plant  is  decomposed.  They  then  put  this  liquid 
in  the  sun,  which  is  tremendously  hot  there,  so  that  it 
boils  and  coagulates,  and  becomes  such  as  we  see  it." 

Socotra,  south  of  Arabia,  was  found  to  be  inhabited 
by  baptized  Christians,  with  an  archbishop.  Every  ves- 
tige of  Christianity  had  disappeared  when  P.  Vincenzo, 
the  Carmelite,  visited  it  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century. 


MAliCO   POLO.  117 

From  India,  Marco  is  supposed  to  have  gone  to  Mada- 
gascar, on  the  eastern  coast  of  Africa,  and  is  the  first 
European  or  Asiatic  writer,  Colonel  Yule  thinks,  who 
mentions  the  island  by  name.  The  ships  from  India 
reached  Madagascar  in  twenty  days.  Among  other 
things  of  interest  in  these  far-off  islands,  below  Mada- 
gascar and  Zanzibar,  was  the  Rukh,  a  bird  so  large 
that  it  was  reported  to  be  able  to  seize  elephants  in  its 
talons,  and  carry  them  high  into  the  air.  Its  feathers 
were  said  to  be  ninety  spans  long,  while  the  quill  part 
was  two  palms  in  circumference  !  An  egg  in  the  Brit- 
ish Museum  of  the  Aepyornis,  once  in  Madagascar,  but 
now  extinct,  requires  two  and  one-half  gallons  to  fill  it, 
and  is  thirteen  and  one-fourth  inches  long. 

At  Zanzibar,  Marco  thought  "  the  women  the  ugliest  in 
the  world,  with  their  great  mouths  and  big  eyes  and 
thick  noses."  The  staple  trade  was  elephants'  teeth. 
Their  sheep  were  white  with  black  heads. 

Abyssinia,  Marco  calls  Middle  India.  He  says  that 
the  Christians  in  baptism  used  a  hot  iron  on  the  fore- 
head, though  some  later  authorities  deny  that  this  was  a 
religious  rite. 

About  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century  there  landed 
on  the  coast  of  Abyssinia  some  explorers  from  Tyre. 
They  were  all  murdered  except  two,  Frumentius  and 
Adesius.  The  former  gathered  all  the  Roman  merchants 
together,  started  a  Christian  church,  and  became  Bishop 
of  Axum,  then  the  leading  place  for  trade  in  Abyssinia. 
The  people  for  some  centuries  were  somewhat  advanced 
in  civilization,  but  they  have  sadly  deteriorated. 

Marco  describes  Aden,  in  the  south  of  Arabia,  at  that 
time  a  great  seaport ;  Es-shehr,  three  hundred  and  thirty 
miles  east  of  Aden,  where  the  horses,  oxen,  and  camels, 


118  MARCO  POLO. 

as  well  as  the  people,  live  on  dried  fish  the  Avhole 
year  through,  —  the  cattle  eating  the  little  fish  alive,  just 
as  they  were  taken  from  the  water,  —  and  Dhafar, 
where  incense  is  gathered  from  small  trees,  and  sold  for 
use  in  churches. 

Marco  finishes  his  book  with  an  account  of  Siberia,  with 
its  immense  white  bears  and  black  foxes,  and  its  sledges 
drawn  by  dogs,  which  Mr.  Kennan  says  are  half  domes- 
ticated Arctic  wolves.  When  the  Tartars  went  far  north 
to  the  Land  of  Darkness,  as  Polo  calls  it,  they  rode  on 
horses  which  had  colts,  leaving  the  latter  behind.  When 
the  Tartars  had  taken  all  the  plunder  they  could  get, 
they  found  their  way  home  because  the  mothers  by 
instinct  knew  the  way  back  to  their  colts. 

Finally  Marco's  twenty-six  years  of  wandering  and 
important  missions  for  Kublai  Khan  were  ended,  and, 
rich  and  honored,  he  went  back  to  live  and  die  in  Venice. 
He  was  the  greatest  traveller  of  his  time. 

John  Fiske  calls  Marco  Polo's  book  "one  of  the  most 
famous  and  important  books  of  the  Middle  Ages.  It 
contributed  more  new  facts  toward  a  knowledge  of  the 
earth's  surface  than  any  book  that  had  ever  been  written 
before." 

Colonel  Yule  shows  Polo's  right  to  fame  in  that  "  He 
was  the  first  to  trace  a  route  across  the  whole  longitude 
of  Asia,  the  deserts  of  Persia,  the  flowering  plateaus  and 
wild  gorges  of  Badakshan,  the  jade-bearing  rivers  of 
Khotan,  the  Mongolian  steppes  ;  .  .  .  the  first  traveller  to 
reveal  China  in  all  its  wealth  and  vastness  ;  ...  to  tell  us 
of  Tibet  with  its  sordid  devotees,  of  Burma,  of  Laos,  of 
Siam,  of  Cochin  China,  of  Japan,  the  Eastern  Thule, 
with  its  rosy  pearls  and  golden-roofed  palaces  ;  the  first 
to  speak  of  that  museum  of  beauty  and  wonder,  still  so 


MARCO  POLO.  119 

imperfectly  ransacked,  the  Indian  Archipelago  ;  of  Java, 
pearl  of  islands ;  Sumatra,  Nicobar  and  Andaman ; 
of  Ceylon ;  of  India  the  Great,  not  as  a  dreamland  of 
Alexandrian  fables,  but  as  a  country  seen  and  partially 
explored  ;  the  first  in  mediaeval  times  to  give  any  distinct 
account  of  the  secluded  Christian  empire  of  Abyssinia, 
and  the  semi-Christian  island  of  Socotra ;  to  speak  of 
Zanzibar  and  the  vast  and  distant  Madagascar;  .  .  . 
of  Siberia  and  the  Arctic  Ocean  ;  of  dog-sledges,  white 
bears,  and  reindeer-riding  Tungnses." 


FERDINAND   MAGELLAN. 


ABOUT  the  year  1480,  at  Sabrosa,  in  the  province  of 
Traz-os-Montes,  in  Portugal,  was  born  Ferdinand 
Magellan.  His  family  was  of  noble  birth.  His  father 
dying  earty,  the  estates  came  to  him,  the  eldest,  instead 
of  to  his  brother  Diego,  or  his  sisters,  Thereza,  Isabel, 
and  Ginebra. 

When  a  lad  he  left  his  wild  mountain  home  and  was 
placed  at  Court  at  Lisbon,  that  his  education  might  be 
under  royal  supervision.  He  became  one  of  the  pages 
of  the  Queen,  the  widow  of  Dom  Joao  II.  This  monarch 
had  been  a  scholarly  man,  quite  noted  as  a  geographer, 
and  called  "the  Perfect "  from  his,  in  many  respects, 
admirable  character. 

In  1495  Dom  Manoel  came  to  the  throne,  and  Magel- 
lan, then  fifteen,  passed  into  his  service.  Columbus  had 
just  discovered  the  New  World,  and  little  was  talked  of 
save  exploration.  Ships  were  fitted  out  to  travel  the  un- 
known waters  and  see  what  treasures  might  be  found  in 
the  far-off  islands  and  in  Asia,  South  America,  and  Africa. 

Vasco  da  Gama  had  undertaken  his  second  voyage  to 
India  in  1502,  and  other  explorers  were  starting  for 
Brazil,  which  had  been  discovered  by  Pedro  Alvarez 
Cabral  in  1500,  and  to  Labrador,  where  Gaspar  Cortereal 
went   about  the   same   time,   and  was   never   heard   of 

120 


FERDINAND  MAGELLAN.  121 

afterwards.  His  brother  followed  him  and  never  re- 
turned. 

Young  Magellan  was  eager  to  join  this  adventurous 
company,  even  though  hardships  were  inevitable  and 
death  was  often  the  result. 

In  1505  Dom  Francisco  d' Almeida  was  sent  as  first 
viceroy  to  India,  with  a  large  armada.  There  were  about 
twenty  ships  in  all,  which  carried  fifteen  hundred  men- 
at-arms,  two  hundred  bombardiers,  and  four  hundred 
seamen,  besides  artisans  of  almost  every  kind. 

Magellan,  then  twenty-five,  bade  adieu  to  court-life, 
made  his  will,  giving  all  his  property  to  his  sister 
Thereza,  with  instructions  to  say  twelve  masses  yearly 
in  Sabrosa  for  his  soul,  and  enlisted  as  a  volunteer  under 
Almeida. 

Before  the  fleet  sailed,  in  the  great  Cathedral,  in  the 
presence  of  a  large  audience,  Almeida,  kneeling  at 
the  feet  of  his  King,  received  the  standard  of  the  vice- 
roy, which  had  been  blessed  by  the  bishop,  —  the  royal 
flag  of  white  damask,  with  a  crimson  satin  cross,  bor- 
dered with  gold. 

After  the  farewells  were  said,  the  King  coming  in 
state  to  witness  the  departure,  the  fleet  left  the  mouth 
of  the  river  Tagus,  March  25,  1505,  sailed  along  the 
coast  of  Africa,  rounded  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  in 
severe  storms,  and  landed  at  Sofala,  on  the  eastern  side 
of  Africa,  where  they  built  and  garrisoned  a  fortress. 

They  arrived  at  Quiloa  on  July  22  ;  and,  as  the  African 
king  was  not  willing  to  be  subject  to  Dom  Manoel,  Al- 
meida promptly  stormed  the  town.  Next  they  reached 
the  important  city  of  Mombaza,  where  their  ships 
were  fired  upon.  In  a  short  time  the. city  was  stormed 
and  the   ten  thousand  Moors   overcome.     The   defeated 


122  FERDINAND  MAGELLAN. 

King  agreed  to  pay  a  yearly  tribute  of  ten  thousand 
serafins,  and  presented  the  son  of  Almeida,  Dom  .Lou- 
renco, with  a  sword  and  collar  of  pearls  worth  thirty 
thousand  cruzados.  (A  cruzado  was  forty-five  cents.) 
Probably  Almeida  reasoned  that  Portuguese  civilization 
was  higher  than  African,  and  that  the  conquest  of  Africa 
and  India  was  a  beneficial  thing  for  the  inhabitants, — 
an  idea  not  obsolete  even  in  this  nineteenth  century. 

From  Mombaza  the  fleet  crossed  the  Indian  Ocean, 
burnt  the  ships  and  took  the  possessions  of  the  King 
of  Onor,  who  had  sent  Almeida  an  insolent  message, 
reached  Cananore,  in  India,  Oct.  22,  where  they  built  a 
fortress,  and  a  few  days  later  came  to  Cochin,  Avhere 
Almeida  was  to  assume  the  rank  of  viceroy.  King 
Nambeadora  came  in  state  on  Ins  elephant  to  meet  the 
viceroy,  who  was  clad  in  brilliant  garb,  a  coat  of  red 
satin,  black  buskins,  and  an  open  black  damask  cassock 
which  formed  a  train.  The  King,  whether  at  heart  will- 
ing or  unwilling,  was  publicly  crowned  by  his  new 
friend,  the  viceroy. 

Once  in  power,  Almeida  sent  back  to  Spain  as  many 
ships  as  he  could  spare,  filled  with  pepper  and  spices 
from  the  Cochin  factories,  and  prepared  himself  for  a 
peaceful  and  successful  reign  over  the  people  of  India. 

But  the  peace  was  of  short  duration.  The  Moors 
rose  against  this  new  government,  and  collected  a  fleet 
of  two  hundred  and  nine  vessels.  Dom  Lourenco,  the 
son  of  Almeida,  met  them  with  eleven  ships  off  Cananore, 
March  16,  1506,  and  a  bloody  battle  ensued.  The  Por- 
tuguese were  successful  even  against  such  odds,  and 
the  Moors  were  driven  out  of  their  ships  into  the  sea. 
"  God  be  praised!  let  us  follow  up  our  victory  over 
these   dogs,"    said   Dom    Lourenco,  and   the   fight   was 


FERDINAND    MAGELLAN 


FERDINAND  MAGELLAN.  123 

waged  to  the  bitter  end.  The  next  day  more  than 
thirty-six  hundred  bodies  were  washed  ashore,  "  forming, 
as  it  were,  a  hedge."  Nearly  eighty  Portuguese  were 
killed  and  over  two  hundred  wounded,  among  the  latter 
young  Magellan,  who  must  by  this  time  have  had  all 
the  adventure  which  he  longed  for. 

The  Moors,  finding  themselves  unable  to  cope  with 
the  Portuguese,  obtained  the  assistance  of  the  Sultan  of 
Egypt.  A  severe  battle  was  fought  the  last  of  Decem- 
ber, 1507,  in  the  river  of  Chaul,  at  which  the  Portu- 
guese were  defeated.  Dom  Louren^o's  leg  was  chattered 
by  a  cannon-ball,  but  he  fought  till  his  ship  sank,  and 
perished  with  his  men. 

Two  months  later  Almeida  avenged  the  death  of  his 
son  in  a  great  battle,  when  between  three  and  four  thou- 
sand Moors  and  Mamelukes  were  slain.  The  Portuguese 
were  victorious.  Among  the  wounded  we  again  find 
Magellan. 

Almeida,  greatly  to  his  disappointment,  saw  himself 
superseded  in  office  by  Affonso  d' Albuquerque,  who  had 
had  great  success  on  the  northern  shores  of  the  Indian 
Ocean  over  the  Mussulmans.  Almeida,  therefore,  started 
for  Portugal,  but  was  killed  on  the  journey  in  a  battle 
with  the  Kafirs,  in  which  the  Portuguese  lost  eleven  of 
their  captains. 

In  1509  Magellan  sailed  with  a  fleet  which  had  been 
sent  out  to  India  from  Lisbon  to  explore  Malacca,  a 
great  centre  of  trade.  The  advent  of  the  Europeans 
caused  much  alarm  ;  but  the  King  affected  to  receive  them 
in  a  friendly  manner,  and  invited  the  leaders  to  a  ban- 
quet. Fearing  treachery,  the  Portuguese  declined,  but 
were  prevailed  upon  to  send  their  boats  ashore  that  they 
might  be  filled  with  pepper  and  other  goods. 


124  FERDINAND  MAGELLAN. 

After  the  sailors  had  gone  in  their  boats,  the  Malays 
crowded  on  board  the  ships.  At  a  given  signal  —  a  puff  of 
white  smoke  —  those  on  sea  and  land  were  to  be  slaugh- 
tered. One  of  the  leaders,  suspecting  treachery,  sent 
Magellan  in  the  only  remaining  boat  to  the  flagship  to 
warn  the  captain-general.  It  was  just  in  time  to  save  his 
life.  The  Malays  on  his  ship  were  driven  overboard  and 
the  fleet  escaped.  The  men  on  shore  were  murdered. 
Two  years  later  this  treachery  was  avenged  in  the  fall  of 
Malacca  through  Albuquerque.  Eight  hundred  Portu- 
guese and  six  hundred  Malabar  archers  defeated  twenty 
thousand  men.  Through  Malacca  passed  all  the  commerce 
of  the  Moluccas,  the  Philippines,  Japan,  and  China  to  the 
Mediterranean  ;  therefore  its  capture  made  the  name  of 
Albuquerque  known  far  and  wide. 

Magellan  purposed  in  1510  to  return  to  Portugal,  after 
an  absence  of  five  years,  and  left  Cochin  about  the 
middle  of  January.  The  ship  in  which  he  sailed  and  one 
other  ran  at  night  upon  a  shoal  of  the  Great  Padua 
Bank.  It  was  decided  to  return  to  India,  about  one  hun- 
dred miles  distant;  and  there  was  contention  as  to  who 
should  go  first,  the  crews  being  unwilling  that  the  officers 
only  should  go  in  the  boats.  Magellan,  with  a  magna- 
nimity which  was  characteristic  of  him,  said  that  he  would 
remain  with  the  crews,  if  those  about  to  return  would 
promise  to  send  aid.  This  they  did,  and  Magellan  and 
the  crews  were  rescued  later. 

After  an  expedition  to  Java,  Celebes,  and  some  other 
islands,  Magellan  carried  out  his  purpose  of  returning  to 
Portugal,  after  a  seven  years'  absence.  He  was  now 
about  thirty -two.  He  had  shown  himself  a  brave  soldier, 
a  skilful  navigator,  and  a  fearless  traveller. 
•     He  remained  in  his  native  land  about  a  year,  and  then 


FERDINAND  31  AG  ELL  AN.  125 

joined  a  great  armada  of  four  hundred  ships  and  eighteen 
thousand  men-at-arms,  against  the  Moors  of  Azainor  in 
Morocco,  who  had  rebelled  against  Dom  Manoel.  They 
were  quickly  subdued.  In  a  skirmish  a  little  later, 
Magellan  was  hit  in  the  leg  with  a  lance,  and  made 
slightly  lame  for    life. 

On  April  12,  1514,  the  Moors  attempted  to  retake 
Azamor ;  and  though  they  were  routed,  leaving  two  thou- 
sand of  their  men  on  the  field,  they  pressed  on  towards 
the  city,  only  to  find  the  walls  destroyed,  and  the  country 
round  about  laid  waste.  They  were  soon  put  to  flight, 
over  a  thousand  Moors  made  prisoners,  and  nearly  as 
many  horses  captured. 

Magellan  and  another  captain  were  put  in  charge  of 
the  booty.  They  were  accused,  whether  wrongly  or  not, 
of  selling  cattle  to  the  Moors,  and  permitting  them  to  be 
carried  off  at  night.  For  this,  or  some  other  reason, 
Magellan  left  Africa,  and  returned  to  Lisbon. 

He  sought  Dom  Manoel  and  asked  for  promotion  and  an 
increase  of  pay  — about  twenty-five  cents  a  month  —  for 
his  long-continued  service.  To  his  surprise  he  was  told 
that  he  had  left  Africa  without  the  permission  of  his  supe- 
rior officer,  and  ordered  at  once  to  go  back  to  Azamor,  to 
answer  the  charges  against  him.  He  returned,  wounded 
in  spirit,  as  he  felt  that  he  had  served  his  king  long  and 
faithfully.  At  Azamor  the  authorities  refused  to  pro- 
ceed against  him,  and  Magellan  came  back  at  once  to 
Portugal,  hoping  that  his  king  would  send  him  to  India,  in 
some  honorable  position.  Dom  Manoel  made  a  serious 
mistake  for  himself  and  his  country  when  he  received' 
the  young  noble  coolly,  and  would  not  listen  to  his  en- 
treaties. It  is  said  by  one  of  the  old  historians  that 
Magellan    "demanded    permission  to  go  and  live  with 


126 


FERDINAND  MAGELLAN. 


some  one  who  would  reward  his  services.  .  .  .  The  King 
said  he  might  do  what  he  pleased.  Upon  this  Magellan 
desired  to  kiss  his  hand  at  parting,  but  the  King  would 
not  offer  it  to  him." 

It  is  probable  that  Magellan  urged  upon  the  King  a 
project  he  had  long  had  in  mind  —  the  passage  to  the 
rich  Moluccas,  or  Spice  Islands,  by  sailing^w^stward 
around  Cape  Horn,  at  the  extremity  of  South  America, 
rather  than  eastward  around"  the  Cape  _ofCroodJHo|T5^" 
Aii'ica.  He  had  used  all  his  spm-p.  timp.  in  studying 
maps  and  charts.     He  knew  that  navigators  had  sailed 


far  along  the  South  American  coast,  and  that  Yasco 
Nunez  de  Balboa  had  looked  upon  a  great  ocean  (the 
j*acitic)  "from  the  mountains  iiiThlTlsthmus  of  Darien, 
now  fanaraa.  Balboa  fell  upon  his  knees  at  the  time  of 
his  discovery,  Sept.  25,  1513,  thanking  God,  and  took 
possession  of  the  whole  seacoast  in  the  name  of  Spain. 
Four  years  later,  at  the  age  of  forty-two,  he  and  four 
faithful  friends  were  beheaded  on  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  on 
the  unjust  charge  of  treason,  through  petty  jealousies  of 
his  superiors  in  office. 

Magellan's  ijitrmnfa  friend.  Frn.neisco  Serrao.  was 
then  living  m  the  Mnlufci"  He  had  been  wrecked 
some  time  previously  upon  a  deserted  island,  infested 
by  pirates.  As  soon"as  these  latter  saw~the  wreck  they 
landed,  intending  to  capture, th pi  survivors.  Serrao  kept 
las  men  hidden  near  the  beach,  and  when  the  pirates 
had  left  their  vessel,  the  Spaniards  took  possession  of  it. 
The  thieves  saw  that  they  would  be  without  food  or 
water,  and   begged  for  projection,  which  they_received 

le  Spaniards' 


after  a  promise  that  they  would  repaiF 

wrecked  vessel.     All  reached   the^Mokiccas~in  safety, 

and  Serrao  remained  there  for  life,  writing  to  Magellan 


FERDINAND  MAGELLAN.  127 

that  "lie  had  discovered  yet  another  new  world,  larger 
and  richer  than  that  foundby  Vasco  da  Gama."     Magel- 
lan wrofiTback  that  he  would  come]  thither,  "  if  not  by   ^^   < 
way  of  FortugaL,  then  by  way  of  Spain."  1^ 

Dom  Manoel  was  not  wise  enough  to  remember  that 
there  were  other  nations  interested  in  navigation  besides 
Portugal,  and  that  all  power  does  not  rest  in  any  one 
person,  however  prominent.  For  Magellan  to  remain 
in  Portugal  under  Dom  Manoel  was  to  see  his  hopes 
thwarted,  and  his  life  unsuccessful.  He  determined, 
therefore,  to  bid  adieu  forever  to  his  own  country  and 
enter  the  service  of  the  great  Emperor  of  Spain,  Charles 
V.  For  this  course  he  was  always  condemned  by  the 
Portuguese :  declared  to  be  a  monster,  and  a  traitor  to 
his  king,  and  one  willing  to  sow  discord  between  the 
two  nations.  Yet  he  did  what  Columbus  and  others , 
did  —  when  one  king  refused  to  aid,  they  sought  another_ 
crowned  head. 

Magellan  reached  Seville,  in  Spain,  Oct.  20,  1517,  not 
discouraged  by  the  ingratitude  of  his  own  ruler,  but 
anxious  lest  Charles  V.  should  look  upon  a  westward 


passage  to  the  Spice  Islands  as  visionary  and  futile. 

Magellan  was  receivedinto  the  home  of  Diogo  Bar^. 
bosa,  a  Portuguese,  alcaide  of  the  arsenal,  a  relation, 
"poSsiMyinxmsin,  where  he  remained  for  three  months. 
Ixarbosa  had  served  Spain,  fourteen  years,  had  been  one 
of  the  discoverers  of  the  islands  Ascension  and  St. 
Helena,  and,  like  his  son,  Duarte  BarTjosa,  was  a  skiileJL^ 
navigator.  With  all  Magellan's  absorption  in  his  plans 
to  discover  new  worlds,  he _  found  time  to  fall  in  love__ 
with  Beatrix  Barbosa,  the  beautiful  daughter  of  his  host, 
and  was  married  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven  [before  he 
went  to  court  at  Valladolid,  probably  taking  his  young 
bidde  with  him. 


128  FERDINAND  MAGELLAN. 

Magellan  laid  his  plans  first  before  the  Casa  de  Cpji- 
tratacion^  but  as  this  Portu^uese_H[as_only  one  of  many 
who  had  schemes  to  equip  vessels  for  exploration,  no 
attention  was  paid  to  the  matter.  Magellan  learned 
what  everybody  learns  sooner  or  later,  —  that  there  is  no 
easy  road  to  success ;  that  he  who  is  unwilling  to  over- 
come obstacles  would  better  never  undertake  any  matter 
of  importance.  One  of  the  three  chief  officials  of  the  Casa 
de  Contratacion,„Juan  de  Aranda,  was  wiser  than  his 
fellows,  or  perhaps  more  drawn  to  the  slender  and  lame 
Portuguese,  and  had  faith~Tn"  the  westward  passage.^ 
Through  him  jm^portunitywas  made  of  presenting 
the_jnait£rJnot_only  to  Sauvage,  the  Lord  High  Chan- 
cellor, Cardinal  Adrian  of  Utrecht,  Fonseca,  Bishop  of 
Burgos,  but  .to  Charles  V.  himself,  then  only  eighteen. 

Magellan  and  a  scholarly  JYiptk1t  E,ny  Faleiro.  taking 
their  globe  with  themj"explained  to  the  King  theirjjur- 
pose,  anoTasked  that  he  would  fit  out  the  ships  at  his 
own  expense,  rewarding  the  explorers  as  he.  thonglit 
best;  or  wealthy^nengs__won1d  provide  the  ships  for 
them,  if  the  King  would  give  them  the  trade  and  owner- 
ship~~of  the  lands  discovered  by  them. 

The  King,  not  unmindful,  perhaps,  that  his  grand- 
mother, Isabella,  had  aided  Columbus,  and  thus  brought 
everlasting  honor  to  herself,  promised  to  provide  an 
armada  of  five  ships,  to  be  provisioned  tor  two  years, 
witFTwo  hundred  and  thirty-four  officers  and  crews.^fo 
other  explorers  should  be  sent  to  the  Spice  Islands  foj 
ten  years  ;  the  territory  of  the  King  of  Portugal  should 
not  be  intrudeoVupon;  and  Magellan  and  his  friend  Faleiro 
should  receive  one-twentieth  part  of  the  profit  of  their 
discoveries,  and  be  governors  ofthe  islands  —  discovery,  ^(^ 
evidently,  always  meaning  conquest. 


FERDINAND  MAGELLAN. 


129 


But  the  fitting-out  of  the  armada  was  not  to  be  an 
easy  thing  after  all.  The  Court  at  Portugal  was  greatly 
incensed  when  they  learned  that  Charles  V.  (whose 
sister  Eleanor,  twenty,  was  about  to  become  the  third 
wife  of  Dora  Manoel,  aged  fifty)  was  to  befriend  a  navi- 
gator whose  cause  they  had  refused  to  consider. 

They  wrote  earnest  appeals  to  Charles ;  they  sent 
messengers  to  Magellan  begging  him  not  to  persist  in 
his  enterprise,  and  thus  sin  against  God  and  his  king ; 
and  when  words  did  not  avail,  an  effort  was  made  to 
assassinate  him,  which  proved  unavailing. 

After  much  delay  the  armada  was  finally  made  ready  : 
the  San  Antonio,  one  hundred  and  twenty  tons ;  Trini- 
dadf  one  hundred  and  ten  tons ;  CohUUpu'nui.  "ninety 
tons ;  Victoria,  eighty-five  tons  ;  SantiagoT  seventy-five 
tons.  Even  when  all  was  ready  Magellan  was  mobbed, 
it   was  believed   by  some   emissaries   of    the   King   of 

Portugal. 

At  last,  nearly  two  years  after  he  came  toSpain,  he 

heard   mass  in  the  church  of  Santa  Maria  de    la    Vic- 
toria  in    Seville,  and  sailed    down 


the  river   with  his 


fleet,  Aug.  10^1519. 


Remaining  at  the  Port  St.  Lucar 


de  Parrameda  for  a  month,  he  made  his  will,  giving  the 
lands  he  should  discover  to  his  little  son  Jjodxjgp,  then 
six  months  old,  one-tenth  of  his  income  to  three  con- 
vents/and,  in  case  of  the  death  of  his  son,  one-fourth 
to  hiswTte,  besides  the  return  of  the  dowry  which  she 
[nought  him  at  her"  marriage,  six  hundred  thousand 
maravedis. 


On  the  day  of  his  burial  three  poor  men 
were  to  be  clothed,  and  food  given  to  them  and  to 
twelve  others,  "and  a  gold  ducat  as  alms  for  the  souls 
in  purgatory." 

On  Sept.    20,  1519,  the  fleet   sailed  away,  amid   the 


130 


FERDINAND  MAGELLAN. 


Jbooming  of  cannon  from  ships  and  shore,  destined  to 
make  the  first  voyage  around  the  world. 

Magellan  was  in  the  Trinidad,  as  was  also  his  brother- 
in-law,  Duarte  Barbosa.  The  ships  carried  nearly  six 
tTirmg-yid  pnnnrls  of  powder,  a  thousand  lances,  two 
hundred  pikes,  three  hundred  and  sixty  dozen  arrows, 
ninety-five  dozen  darts,  many  cannon,  and  much  armor 
for  the  men.  Evidently  while  Magellan  hopedjbojQhrig- 
tianize  the  peoples  whom  he  should  find,  he  had  other 
measures  in  reserve  besides  pprsnasinn. 

The  ship  carried  many  charts,  cojmiagses,  ffffij^he^jjte, 
and  quantities  of  goods,  for  barter  :  knives,  over  two 
thousana  pounds  of  quicksilver,  twenty 


qui 


ity  thousand  bells, 


ivory,  velvets,  and  glass,  geveral  scholars  had  joined 
the  expedition,  among  them  an  Italian,  Antonio  Piga- 
fetta,  who  kept  a  valuable  journal  and  published  it  on 
his  return.  " 

The  fleet  sailed  towards  the  Canary  Islands,  stopping 
for  wood  and  water  at  Teneriffe,  then  along  the  African 
coast,  past  Cape  Verde  and  Sierra  Leone,  sufffHng^sovnp- 
what  from  heavy  storms,  and  having  rain  for  sixty  days 
while  they  were  in  the  vicinity  of  the  equator.  T heir 
course  was  so  slow  that  the  rations  of  the  men  were 
reduced  to  two  quarts  of  water  per  day,  and  the  bread 
to  one  pound  and  a  half. 

Taking  a  westerly  course,  they  crossed  the  Atlantic^ 

nrvTypd     npnr    HprnmnTTnco    ill    South    America.    Nov.    29. 


rounded  Cape  Frio,  and  entered  the  harbor  at  Rio  _de 
Janeiro. 

They~found  the  natives  friendly,  willing  to  exchange 
enono-h  fish  for  ten  men  for  a  looking-glass,  a  large 
"basket  of  sweet  potatoes  torabeii^or  one  of  their  chil- 
dren  or  several  fowls  for  a  big  knife.     rpke  people  lived 


FERDINAND   MAGELLAN. 


131 


in  long,  low  huts2__atg__tlifi_flesli  of  their_cap4i^ea.  and 
were  nearly  naked,,  wearing  a  sort  of  apron  of  parrots' 
feathers.  Monkeys  and  birds  of  gorgeous  plumage 
abounded. 

JVfass  was  twice  said  on  shore  by  the  Spaniards,  in 
which  the  natives  joined,  kneeling  and  raising  their 
hands  to  Heaven,  from  whence  they  believed  the  pale 
faces  hactTUme,  bringing  rain  with  them,  as  it  had  not 


rained  for  two  months  previous  to   the   arrival  of   the 
ships. 

The  fleet  sailed  away  Dec.  26,  following  the  coast,  so 
that  no  inlet  or  strait  should  be  overlooked  which  might 


furn 


Arriving  at  the 


IUo  de_la  Plata,  they  landed,  and  caught  a  quantity  of 
f\sh.  One  night  an  Indian,  dressed  in  goat-skins,  came 
in  a  canoe  to  the  ship.  Magellan  gave  him  a  cotton 
shirt  and  some  other  articles,  hoping  that  he  would 
return  and  bring  his  friends,  but  he  never  came  back. 
When  the  Spaniards  attempted  to  catch  some  of  the  shy 
natives,  they  proved  too  fleet  for  them. 

Going  farther  south,  they  found  great  numbers,  of 
"sea_  wolves,"  probably"  seals,  and  killed  many.  The 
wi liter  was  coming  on,  and  storms  were  very  severe, 
carrying  away  parts  of~their  ships^  After  weeks  of 
'suffering  they  anchored  in  Port  St.  Julian,  Mai,crT3l. 

Food  was  scarce,  and  the  diminished  j^tions  caused 
great  complaining.  The  cold  was  intense,  and  some 
had  died  from  exposure.  They  beggecToT"  Magellan  to 
go  back  to  Spain,  lest  they  all  should  perish,  as  evidently 
l:nwTjitrr(»fr»li^<l  f;ir  q,wfl,y  to  the  South  Pole,  and  there 
was  no  hope  of  entering  the.  Pacific  Ocean. 

.Magellan  censured   them   for  their   lack    of    courage, 


and  said,  for  himself,  he  was  determined  to  die  rather 


132 


FERDINAND  MAGELLAN. 


than  return.  There  were  plenty  of  fish  and  birds  in 
the  bay  for  food,  and  it'  they  would  push  on,  wealth 
and  honor  were  before  them. 


~*    r_QjLa"tim*e  the  men  were  content,  but  cold  and  suffer- 
ing brought  again  their  natural  results.  ^The  men  de- 


clared they  were  not  sailing  towards  the  Moluccas,  but 
to  a  land  of  ice  ;  that  as  Magellan  was  a  Portuguese, 
lie  aid.  not  care  if  crews  of  Spaniards  perished.  Fearing 
t]j£--k*iki£uce  of  such^murmaring,  the  captain-general 
arrested  the  complainers.     But  it  was _ too  late;  a  mu- 


tiny had  already  been  arranged.  At  night  the  captain 
oTthe  Concepcion,  Gaspar  Quesada,  JuJjTae  (Jartagena, 
the  secomL^mce^  and  over  thirty~~~armed  men  boarded 


the  San  Antonio,  placed  the  captain7""Abaio  de  Mes^ 
quita,  m  irons,  killecTthe  master,  and  cleared  the  deck 
of~^!Te-^ntp"  for*acttnn: — The_j¥rotujjll,''^v111i  Louis^de 
Mendoza  at  its  head,  joined  the  insurgents. 

As  soon  as  M3geJjjmJ^eardJhaLlllrpp  nf  his_five  ships 
hadturned  agaiustjiim,  he  resolved  upon  decisive  meas- 
ures All  seemed  lost, — no  western  passage  discovered, 
"anj^a  return  to  Spain,  if  at  all,  in  disgrace.  Many  a 
man  would  have  quailed  before"^uch~odurs.  NqWo 
Magellan.  ~~*&&- 

A  skiff  with  five  men  bearing  concealed  weapons  was 
despatched  to  Mendoza,  of  the  Victoria,  summoning  him 
to  the  Trinidad  to  meet  Magellan.'     As_he  refusedtojp, 

>oat  with 


he  was  instantly  stabb~ed  to  death.  Another" 
fil'teen  picked  men  under  Duarte"  j&u-bosa,  brother-in-law 
of  Magellan,  appeared  at  once  alongside  the  Victoria, 
boarded  her,  and  compelled  the  surrender  of  her  crew. 
Then  the  Trinidad,  the  Victoria,  and  the  Santiago, 
stationed  themselves    at   tTTe~"entrance   of    the    port   to 

Wen 


jvtonio  and  the  Concepcion. 


FEB  DIN  A  NI)   MA  GEL  L .  I  .V. 


133 


the  former  came  in  sight  the  Trinidad  fired  u] 
\vj,tji.large  Lombards,  and  shf>  was,  hmvded  by  the  crew 
( )^_j]i£_^ctoria.  Qnesada  and  Ins  helpers  were  seized 
and  put  in  irons  ;  forty  men  were  condemned  tiLiLeath 
for  treason,  but  were  pardoned.  Quesada  was  beheaded, 
and  his  body  quartered,  as  was  that  of  Mendoza,  while 
fJiian  de  Cartagena  and  a  priest  were  left  among  the 
savages,  perhaps  to  share  an  equally  dreadful  fate. 

These  measures  seemed  very  severe  ;    but  if  the,  insur- 


its  hadi>een  permitted  to  put  Magellan  in  mropen 
boat,  as  was  Henry  Hudson  among  the  icebergs  or  Hud- 
son Bay,  to  die  of  hunger  and  cold,  or  had  they  killed 
their  leader,  as  they  intended,  others  might  have  found 
the  westward  passage,  but  not  Magellan. 

The  Santiago,  now  that  the  mutiny  was  quelled,  was 
sent  ahead  to  examine   the   coast  and  look  carefully  for 


the  eagerly  expected  strait  which  should  lead  them  into 
the  Pacific.  She  sailed  to  the  Rio  de  Santa  Cruz,  sixty 
miles  away,  where  she  found  abundance  of  fish  and 
seals,  or  sea-wolves,  weighing  five  hundred  pounds.  A 
sudden  and  violent  storm  came  on,  and  the  ship  went 
to  pieces.  The  crew,  thirty-five  in  number,  without 
provisions,  had  to  make  their  way  as  best  they  could 
seventy  miles  through  the  wilderness  to  their  comrades. 
When  they  reached  the  river  Santa  Cruz,  it  was  decided 
that  two  only  should  cross  on  the  little  raft  which  they 
had  made,  while  the  rest  encamped  to  wait  for  the  ships. 
For  eleven  days  the  men  made  their  solitary  journey, 
fording  marshes,  cutting  their  way  through  forests,  and 
living  on  roots  and  leaves.  At  length,  thin  and  worn, 
they  reached  their  comrades. 

Magellan   did   not    dare    risk   his   vessels,   so   he   sent 
a  ['arty  of  twenty-four   men   with   food   to  the   starving 


134 


FEIt  DIN  AND  MA  (JELL  A  N. 


company.  They  could  find  no  water,  and  were  obliged 
to  melt  snow  for  drink.  At  last  all  were  brought  back 
in  safety,  but  much  broken  in  health  by  exposure. 

After  remaining  for  weeks  in  Port  St.  Julian  without 
seeing  a  single  inhabitant,  the  sailors  were  astonished 
one  day  by  the  coming  of  a  gigantic  Indian,  so  tall  that 
the  Spaniardscame  only  "  to  theTevel  of  his  waTstbldt." 
Ilis~Tace**was  painted  red,  his  hair  white,  yellow  circles 
were  around  his  eyes,  and  his  covering  was  the  skin  of 
the  guanaco.  He  was  shown,  among  other  things,  a 
large  steel  mirror,  and,  seeing  himself  in  it,  was  so 
astonished  that,  springing  backward,  he  knocked  over 
four  of  the  Spaniards.  Still,  he  was  not  displeased  at 
knowing  how  he  looked,  for  he  accepted  a  mirror  as  a 
present. 

After  this  other  natives  came,  several  women  among 
them,  leading  small  guanacos  by  a  string  as  they  would 
dogs,  with  the  purpose  of  enticing  other  animals  of  the 
same  kind,  so  that  the  men  might  shoot  them  with  their 
arrows. 

The  PiiJ^pmiiiTS^rere  foun(Lj&_J3e  a  strange  people, 
ejJaijg__rats  withojilL£fo?)ping  to  skin  them,  liviug  mngtly 
on  raw  ineat,  thrusting  arrows  down  their  throats  when 
theywerf 
Avhen. 


iJJ,  or  cutting  themselves  across-  the  forehead 
sad  ache. 


Magellan,  desirous  of  securing  some  of  these  savages 
for  Charles  V.,  practised  a  deception,  which  seemed  far 
from  right.  When  some  of  the  Indians  came  on  board 
the  Trinidad,  he  loaded  them  with  presents,  and  then 
showed  them  how  a  pair  of  irons  could  be  fitted  to  the 
legs.  These  irons  were  at  once  riveted  by  a  hammer, 
and  the  men  were  prisoners. 

When  they  found  they  had  been   deceived,  they  in- 


FERDINAND   MAGELLAN. 


135 


voiced  Setebos,  their  Great  Spirit,  and  called  in  vain  for 
their  wives,  as  the  Spaniards  understood  by  their  signs. 
Magellan  sent  two  Indians  bound  to  the  shore  in  charge 
of  some  armed  Spaniards.  One  Indian  escaped,  though 
he  was  wounded  in  the  head.  When  they  reached  the 
huts  of  the  natives,  the  other  Indian  spoke  a  few  words 
to  the  women,  who,  instead  of  going  to  the  ship,  imme- 
diately fled  into  the  forest. 

After  spending  between  three  and  four  months  in  Port 
S t_jjn1i,iii);  f1lp  fl|,pt  saijed  for  the  Santa  Cruz  River,  whe re 
they  obtained  an  abundance  of  fish,  and  dried  it 


When  October   came   M 


:e  or  nsi^ana  uriea  lt^ 
aeellan  found    the  weather 


much  warmer,  and  the  winter  brokemjmat  theyagain 
started  in  earnest  for  the  westward  passage.  On  Oct- 
21,  1520,  they  "saw  an  opening  like  unto  a  bay."  _Xhe_ 
fleet  was  ordered  to  enter,  and  the  Concepcion  and  the 
San  Antonio  were  sent  on  in  advance  to  see  if  it  were 
indeed  as  trait.  A  fearful  storm  came  on,  and  it  was 
feared  for  a  time  that  the  vessels  were  lost.  Finally 
they  ^returned,  their  masts  gay  with  flags,  having  found 
that  the  inlet,  or  bay,  extended  for  a  very  great  distance. 

Magellan  now  sailed  farther  on,  well  assured  in  his 
own  mind  that  the  long-sought  strait  was  found.  After 
a  month  had  gone  by.  on  Nov.  21,  he  issued  an  order 
< 1  nuanding  of  his  captains  and  pilots  their  views  abo u t 
continuing  the  voyage.  All  were  for  going  onward 
eKCept  "hstev.o  Gomes,  the  pilot  of  the  San  Antonio, 
lb-  said  now  that  they  had  found  the  strait,  they  might 
all  perish  he  lore  the  Molucca  islands  mire  reached,  as 
nobody  knew  the  width  of  the  Pacific. 

Magellan,  who  iiad  evidently  been  testing  their  cour- 
age and  nrrsrvrrance,  replied  that  "  if  they  had  to  eat 
the  leather  on  the  ships'  yards,  he  would  still  go  on  and 


136  FERDINAND  MAGELLAN. 

discoverjvhat  lie  had  promised  the  Emperor/*  He  de- 
clared that  no  one  under  pain  of  death  should  discuss 
the  difficulties  before  them,  knowing  that  discontent 
doubles  if  we  dwell  upon  our  obstacles. 

Thgv  snilM  ^lu^ard  and,  Nov.  28,  they  emerged  from 
the  strait,  afterward  named  Strait  of  Magellan  in _honx>r 
of  its  discoverer,  and  looked  upon  the  great  Pacific  Ocean. 
Sooverj  overt  were  they  that  Magellan  wept,  as  well  as 
his  companions.  Guns  were  fired,  and  thanks  were 
returned  to  Gfocl  and  the  Virgin  Maw. 

With  this  great  joy  came  an  unexpected  sorrow. 
Gomes  and  the  San  Antonio,  the  largest  of  the  ships, 
and  carrying  the  larger  part  of  the  stores,  had  deserted" 
and   returned   to   Spam."    He   and   his  companions  had 


stabbed  the  faithful  Captain  Mesquita,  and  put  him  in 
irons,  and  then  turned  the  vessel  homeward.  On  May 
G,  1521,  she  reached  the  port  of  Seville.  The  Patagonian 
prisoner,  one  of  the  two  whom  Magellan  had  allowed  to 
be  bound,  died  on  the  passage. 

The  other  Patagonian,  who  was  on  board  the  Trinidad, 
died  about  the  time  they  reached  the  Pacific.  "  When 
he  felt  himself  gravely  ill,  of  the  malady  from  which  he 
afterwards  died,"  says  Pigafetta,  the  Italian,  "  he  em- 
braced the  cross  and  kissed  it,  and  desired  to  become  a 
Christian.  We  baptized  him  and  gave  him  the  name  of 
Paul." 

The  navigators  were  thirty-eight _d ays  passing  through 
the  strait.  The  land  to  the  south  having  many  fires, 
they~called  it  "Tierra  del  Fuego,"  land  of  fire,  which 
name  it  has  always  retained.  The  tempests  were  over, 
and  for  three  months  and  twenty  dayq  <-V>py  ^pilpd— an  a 
s mooth  and  apparently  boun d less  ocean,  without  a  sing] e 
storm.     No  wonder  Magellan  named  it  the  Pacific. 


FERDINAND  MAGELLAN. 


137 


^-£j£rtwo  months'  sailing  they  came  to  an  island,  but 
jt  was  uninhabited,  and  eleven  days  after  another^but 
they  found  neither  food  nor  water.  Their  condition  had 
become  distressing.     The  water  "n  Imn.H  was  too  off^n- 


sjyp.  tq  toiicji,  anjL_their  biscuits  were  full  of  worms. 
Th£y-^lidfndeed  eat  the  "  leather  on  the  ships'  yards," 
n.s  l\r^(yel1an"hac[_cLetermined  to  do  ratlierthan tiirhnSack. 
They_jiflft&ned  the  leather  by  letting  it  hang  overboard 
three  or  four  day  s^  and  then  cooked  it  on  the  embers. 
Sawdust  was  used  for  food,  and  they  ate  rats  with  avidity. 
Scurvy  broke  out,  and  many  died.  Only  three  of  the 
five  ships  were  left,  and  the  number  of  sailors  on  these 
was  daily  lessened. 

ieeks  wore  on,  until  finally,  March  6.  land  was 
sighted,  and  a  nTimber  of  praus,  queer-looking  boats, 
with  palm-leaf  sails,  like  lateen  sails,  came  out  to  meet 

ired  the   Marianne  or 


Great  was  their  rejoicing  to  find  fresh  fruit  and  vege- 
tables. The ^atives  were  thievish,  and  greatly  annoyed 
Magellan  by  taking^ the  skiff  under  the  stern  of  the  flag- 
ship, and,  indeed,  whatever  they  could  lay  their  hands  on. 
Driving  them  off  the  ships,  they  sent  back  stones  and 
burning  torches.  The  next  day  Magellan  burned  one  of 
their  villages  and  several  of  their  boats,~killed  seven  or 
eight  men,  regained  his  own  skiff,  and  took  whatever 
provisions  he  wished. 

The  natives  were  unacquainted  with  the  use  of  bows 
and  arrows,  and  when  one  of  their  number  was  wounded, 
he  wouTd  draw  the  arrow  out  of  ins  body  and  look  at  it 
wistfully,  which  touched  the  hearts  of  the  explorers. 

The  people  had  no  clothing  except  aprons  of  bark. 
They  lived  in  wood  huts,  thatched  with  fig-leaves  ;  their 


138  FERDINAND  MAGELLAN. 

food  was  for  the  most  part  figs,  fish,  and  birds^;  their 
weapons,  long  sticks  with  sharpened  fish-bones  at  the 
ends. 

The  fleet  left  the  Ladrones,  and  on  March  16  reached 
the  Philippines,  andanchored  on  the  little  island  of 
Snluan.  The  natives  were  very  friendly,  bringing  cocoa- 
nuts,  oranges,  bananas,  fowls,  and  palm  wine,  in  return 
for  which  they  received  red  caps,  looking-glasses,  bells, 
and  other  tilings.  Their  chief  came  with  them,  wearing 
large  gold  ear-rings  and  rich  gold  bracelets. 

The  sick  sailors  were  put  on  shore  in  two  large  tents ; 
and  each  day  Magellan  went  to  visit  them,  giving  them 
cocoanut  milk  to  drink  with  his  own  hands. 

After  nine  days  the  fleet  sailed  to  Leyte  Island,  where 
Magellan's  slave,  Enrique  of  Malacca,  found  that  the 
people  understood  his  Malay  tongue.  The  shy  natives 
would  not  at  first  come  to  the  flagship,  j^o_Magel  Ian  put" 
some  presents  on  aplank  and  pushed  it  towards  them. 

A  little  later  the  King  came,  and  brought  fish  and  rice 
in  person  to  the  Admiral,  in  return  Magellan  gave  him 
a  Turkish  red  and  yellow  robe,  with  a  red  cap,  and  they 
became  friends  through  the  ceremony  of  blood-brother- 
""hood  ;  that  is,  eacn  one  tastes  the  blood  of  the  oth e r, 
drawn  from  the  arm.  The  King  was  shown  the  armor  of 
the  men,  their  swords  and  guns,  and  the  maps  and  charts 
which  Magellan  had  studied  so  closely.  After  a  dinner 
together,  which  the  King  seemed  to  enjoy,  two  Spaniards 
went  on  shore,  and  the  King  entertained  them. 

Pigafetta,  who  was  one  of  them,  thus  describes  the 
visit :  "  The  King  took  me  by  the  hand,  while  one  of  his 
chiefs  took  my  comrade's,  and  we  were  led  in  this  man- 
ner under  a  canopy  of  canes,  where  there  was  a  halanrjai, 
or  canoe,  like  a  galley,  on  the  poop  of  which  we  sat,  con- 


FERDINAND  MAGELLAN.  139 

versing  by  signs,  for  we  had  no  interpreter.  The  King's 
followers  remained  standing,  armed  with  swords,  dag- 
gers, spears,  and  shields.  A  dish  of  pork  with  a  large- 
vessel  full  of  wine  was  brought,  and  at  each  mouthful 
we  drank  a  cup  of  wine.  If,  as  rarely  happened,  any 
was  left  in  our  cups,  it  was  put  into  another  vessel.  The 
King's  cup  remained  always  covered,  and  no  one  drank 
from  it  but  he  and  I.  .  .  . 

"  Before  the  hour  of  supper  I  presented  to  the  King 
the  many  presents  I  had  brought  with  me.  .  .  .  Then 
came  supper-time.  They  brought  two  large  china  dishes, 
the  one  filled  with  rice,  the  other  with  pork  in  its 
gravy.  We  ate  our  supper  with  the  same  ceremonies 
and  gestures  as  before.  We  then  repaired  to  the  palace 
of  the  King,  in  shape  like  a  sort  of  hay -loft  or  rick,  cov- 
ered with  banana  leaves,  and  supported  on  four  large 
beams,  which  raised  it  up  from  the  ground,  so  that  we 
had  to  ascend  to  it  by  means  of  ladders.  On  our  arrival 
the  King  made  us  sit  upon  a  cane-mat  with  our  legs  crossed 
like  tailors  on  a  bench,  and  after  half  an  hour  a  dish  of 
fish  was  brought,  cut  in  pieces  and  roasted,  another  of 
freshly  gathered  ginger,  and  some  wine.  The  King's 
eldest  son  having  entered,  he  was  made  to  sit  next  me, 
and  two  more  dishes  were  then  brought,  one  of  fish,  with 
its  sauce,  and  the  other  of  rice,  to  eat  with  the  prince. 

"  For  candles  they  used  the  gum  of  a  certain  tree  called 
an  hue,  wrapped  up  in  leaves  of  the  palm  or  banana.  The 
King  now  made  a  sign  to  us  that  he  desired  to  retire  to 
rest,  and  departed,  leaving  the  prince  with  us,  in  whose 
company  we  slept  on  cane-mats  with  cushions  stuffed 
with  leaves." 

In  the  morning  the  Spanish  guests  departed,  the  King 
and  they  kissing  each  other's  hands. 


140  FERDINAND   MAGELLAN. 

When  Easter  came,  March  31,  mass  was  said  with 
much  ceremony,  the  Indian  King  and  his  brother  kiss- 
ing the  cross,  and  kneeling  with  joined  hands  as  did  the 


Spaniards.  A  cross  and  crown  of  thorns  was  set  upon  a 
hill  that  the  Indians  might  thereafter  see  and  adore  it. 

Wishing  to  visit  other  islands  for  gold  and  spices,  the 
King  offered  to  be  their  pilot ;  but  from  excessive  eating 
and  drinking  he  slept  all  one  day,  and  then  they  were  de- 
layed, as  he  had  to  gather  his  rice  harvest.  In  this  the 
Spaniards  helped,  and  all  being  ready,  the  fleet  ffeparfed 
April  4,  and  entered  the  port  of  Sebu  Sunday,  April  7.     .iJs?£& 

They  found  a  beautiful  island,  abounding  in  fruit, 
with  birds  of  brilliant  plumage,  and  quite  large  and  busy 
villages.  Their  customs  were  most  interesting  to  the 
explorers.  Mr.  George  M.  Towle,  in  his  "  Life  of  Magel- 
lan," thus  describes  a  Sebu  funeral,  the  circumstances 
gathered  from  the  old  chronicles  :  — 

"  The  chief's  corpse  was  laid  in  a  chest  in  his  house  ; 
around  the  chest  was  wound  a  cord,  to  which  branches 
and  leaves  were  tied  in  a  fantastic  fashion,  while  on 
the  end  of  each  branch  a  strip  of  cotton  was  fastened. 
The  principal  women  of  the  island  went  to  the  house  of 
mourning  and  sat  around  the  corpse,  wrapped  in  white 
cotton  shrouds  from  head  to  foot ;  beside  each  woman 
stood  a  young  girl,  who  Avafted  a  palm-leaf  fan  before 
her  face. 

"Meanwhile,  one  of  the  women  was  engaged  in  cut- 
ting the  hair  from  the  dead  man's  head  with  a  knife. 
His  favorite  wife  all  this  time  lay  stretched  upon  his 
body,  with  her  mouth,  hands,  and  feet  pressed  close  to 
his.  As  the  woman  concluded  her  hair-cutting,  she  broke 
into  a  low,  dismal,  wailing  song,  which  the  others  after 
awhile  caught  up.     The  attendants  on  the  mourners  then 


FERDINAND   MAGELLAN.  141 

took  porcelain  vases  with  burning  embers  on  them,  upon 
which  they  kept  sprinkling  myrrh,  benzoin,  and  other 
perfumes,  that  formed  a  cloud  of  incense  in  the  room. 

"  These  ceremonies  and  mournings  continued  for  seve- 
ral days ;  meanwhile,  the  body  was  anointed  with  oil  of 
camphor  to  preserve  it ;  and  at  the  end  of  the  mourning 
period  it  was  solemnly  deposited  in  a  kind  of  tomb,  made 
of  wooden  logs,  in  the  neighboring  forest." 

A  treaty  was  made  with  the  King  of  Sebu^by  blood- 
brotherhood,  and  then  Magellan  made  them  an  address 
throughan  interpreter.  ^Anxious  to  win  all  the  islands 
of  the  sea,  not  only  for  Spairn"  but  for  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic, faith,  he  urged  their  becoming  Christians,  not  through 
fear,  nor  the  wish  to  please  the  Spaniards,  but  because 
ij^was  right. 

The  King  soon  expressed  a  wisli_Jjo_Ja»-a^Ghris,ti4,n, 
and  on  April  14,  on  a  scaffolding  in  the  centre  of  the 
town,  the  ceremony  of  baptism  took  peace.  Magellan 
came  in  state  with  forty  men  in  armor,  and  the  King  and 
more  than  fifty  others,  dressed  in  white,  and  all  were  bap- 
tized. Magellan  and  the  King  sat  in  two  velvet  chairs, 
one  red  and  the  other  violet. 

The  Queen  and  forty  of  her  ladies  were  baptized  the 
same  day,  she  receiving  the  name  of  Joanna,  after 
the  mother  of  Charles  V.,  and  the  King,  Carlos,  after  the 
Emperor.  Pigafetta  gave  to  the  queen  a  carved  figure  of 
the  Virgin  and  child,  which  she  seemed  greatly  to  prize. 
She  was  young  and  quite  pretty,  wearing  a  black  and 
white  robe,  and  a  large  hat  made  of  palm  leaves.  About 
eight  hundred  persons  were  baptized  the  same  day,  and 
later  all  the  inhabitants  of  Sebu,  and  some  on  the  neigh- 
boring islands,  several  thousand  persons  in  all. 

They  were  told  that  they  must  burn  all  their  idols,  wood 


142 


FERDIXA  ND   M.  i  G  EL  L  A  N. 


images,  hollowed  out  behind,  and  arms  and  legs  apart, 
with  broad  face  and  four  teeth  like  those  of  a  wild 
boar.     Most  of  them  were  burned. 

The  idols  were  retained,  however,  in  the  house  of  a 
nephew  of  the  King,  a  valiant  warrior,  who  was  very  ill. 
Magellan  informed  the  King  that  if  the  nephew  were  bap- 
tized, he  would  at  once  recover,  and  if  this  were  not  the 
case,  he  would  forfeit  his  head.  A  procession  was  ar- 
ranged in  the  square  where  the  cross  had  been  set  up,  and 
soon  reached  the  sick  man's  house,  where  it  was  found 
that  he  could  neither  speak  nor  move.  Magellan,  not 
doubting  that  his  prayer  for  the  man  would  be  answered, 
baptized  him,  and  asked  how  he  felt.  He  replied  much 
better,  and  in  five  days  rose  from  his  bed  recovered,  and 
burned  his  idols. 

Magellan,  overjoyed  at  such  professions  of  Christian- 
ity, offered  to  protect  the  King  from  any"~uTsloyal  subjects 
a  rash  thing  to  do,  but  his  eiitTru- 


or  antagonistic1  rulers, 
siasmin  christianizing  the  people  was  as  great  as  his 
desire  to  circumnavigate  the  globe,  and  find  the  westward 
passage  to  the  Moluccas.  He  felt  grateful  to  the  King 
of  Sebu,  and  a  sense  of  honor  seemed  to  impel  him  to  this 
unfortunate  promise. 

()i\p  of  t. he_ minor  chief s^  Silapulapu,  rebelling,  Magel- 
lan  sent  an  expedition  against  hiin^which  burnt  one  of 
his  villages,  ana*  erected  a  cross  over  the  ashes.  It  "is 
not  strange  that  their  associations  with  the  cross  there- 
after were  not  pleasant,  and  that  they  determined  upon 
revenge. 

Magellan  was  urged  by  his  friends  not  to  proceed 
further,  in  the  matter ;  but  he  resolved,  not  only  to  pmi- 


ish    thgni,  bat  to  conquer  all  for  the  newly  converted 
Ling  of  Sebu.  """" 


FERDINAND  MAGELLAN. 


143 


At  midnight,  April  2G,  1521.  Magellan  with  sixty  men 
in  three  boats,  and  the  King  of  Sebu  with  about  one 


thousandiuen  in  twenty  or  more  war  canoes,  started  for 
the  little  island  of  Mactan.  Magellan  preferred  not  to 
shed  blood,  and  sent  a  message  to  Silapulapii  tilat— rf-he 
would  submit  and  pay  tribute,~"all  would  be  well,  but  if 
not,  "  he  would  learn  how  our  lances  wounded." 

The  Indians  sent  word  back  that    "  it  tTie  Spaniards 


had  lances  so  had  they,  albeit  only   reeds~~and    stakes 
tIaTfl~e"ned  by  fire:  that  triey  were  ready  tor  them," 

When  morning  came  the  king  of  Sebu  begged  to  lead 
the  assault,  with  his  thousand  men  ;  but  Magellan,  over- 
conndent.~aud"wishing  to  show  the  Indians  how~his  men 
could  fight,  ordered  the  King  and  his  merPto  remain- in 
Jjie  canoes,  while*  h,ef  -nn'^  forty-pi  n-ht  SpanTards  landed, 
April  27,  1521.  _ and  attacked  the  rebels.  The~~oTiTier 
tvyelvft  of  Magellan's  men  remainedto  givarcflme  boats. 
The  Spaniards  were  at  once  suriWhTTelTljT^To^r'fiiteeh 
hundred  to  six  thousand  natives,  who  threw  stories'" and 

RITTjody  not^ovefecrty 


javelins  at  those  portions  ~ot 
armor. 

Some  of  the  Sj 


=fire==tothe  houses,  which 
made  the  natives  more  furious  than  ever.  They  singled 
out  Magellan,  trie  leader,  lor  the^r  persistent  attac k . 
An  arrow  had  pierced  his  right  leg;~and  seeing  that  an 
advance  was  impossible,  he  ordered  a  rgTreat,  butTTwas 
tooirit^  MosVof~tihp  Spaniards  flftdfrom  such  unequal 
warfare^nly  pre  or  eight  staying  by  theiFcommande r . 
Fighting  hand  to  hand,  they  reached  the  shore.     Magel- 


.JanTfflce  had  Ins  helmet  tornoff,  and  received  a  spear 
\yound  in  the  right  arm.  A  laml^  gj^ov  wng  run  into 
lns_facealso,  and  he  in  turn  plunged  his  lance  into  the 
breast  of  his  pursuer.     'iMie  enemy,  seeing  that  he  coul d 


144  FERDINAND  MAGELLAN. 

not  draw  out  his  sword  on  account  of  the  wound  in  his 
right  arm,  rushed  upon  him  and  struck  a  blow  on  the 
left  leg,  which  made  him  fall  forward  on  his  face.  The 
end  had  come.  They  ran  him  t.hrnno-h  q/nd  through  with 
iron-pointed  spears  and  cimeters.  Eight  of  his  men  lay 
dead  beside  him  and  four  Christian  Indians.  "  His  obsti- 
nate  resistance,"  says  Pigafetta,  "  nad.  no  other  aim~than 
to  give  time  for  the  retreat  of  his  men." 

It  seemed  pitiful  to  die  in  this  manner  after  facing  all 
the  perils  of  the  sea,  without  reaching  the  Moluccas,  or 
circumnavigating  the  globe ;  but  he  had  discovered  the 
westward  passage,  and  had  pointed  out  the  way  around 
the  world  to  all  future  travellers. 

When  word  was  brought  to  the  King  of  Sebu  that 
Magellan  was  killed,  he  wept  like  a  child.  He  had  left 
his  canoes  and  gone  to  the  aid  of  his  pale-faced  friend, 
but  it  was  too  late. 

The  Spaniards  sailed  back  to  Sebu,  well-nigh  crushed 
that  their  leader  was  gone.  They  offered  any  amount 
desired  for  the  body ;  but  Silapulapu  declared  that  it 
should  always  be  kept  as  a  token  of  their  victory,  and 
the  bones  of  the  great  navigator  never  left  Mactan.  A 
monument  has  been  erected  there  to  his  memory. 

Thus  perished  the  man  of  noble  family,  the  fearless, 
indomitable,  unselfish  Magellan.  "  In  the  history  of 
geographical  discovery,"  says  Dr.  F.  H.  N:  Guillemard 
(late  lecturer  in  geography  at  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge), in  his  Life  of  Magellan,  "  there  are  two  great 
successes,  and  two  only,  so  much  do  they  surpass  all 
others,  — the  discovery  of  America  and  the  circumnavi- 
gation of  the  globe.  Columbus  and  Magellan  are  the 
only  possible  competitors  for  the  supremacy."  Lord 
Stanley  of  Alderley,   in   his  "First  Voyage  round   the 


FEEDINAND  MAGELLAN.  145 

World,"  calls  Magellan  "undoubtedly  the  greatest  of 
ancient  and jnodern  navigators  ; "  and  Dr.  Guillemard  adds 
that  it  "  is  an  opinion  which  a  careful  investigation 
obliges  us  to  accept." 

Magellan's  family  soon  followed  him.  The  little  son 
Rodrigo  died  six  months  after  his  father,  September, 
1521,  and  his  wife,  Beatrice,  broken-hearted  for  her  child 
and  her  husband, —  a  second  child  was  dead  at  its  birth, 
after  Magellan's  departure ,  —  died  in  less  than  a  year 
after  her  husband,  March,  1522. 

The  first  work  of  the  disheartened  explorers  was  to 
select  a  leader  to  guide  the  fleet  towards  the  Moluccas, 
now  that  Magellan  had  fallen.  Two  were  chosen, 
Duarte  Barbosa,  the  brother  of  Beatrice,  and  JoSo 
Serrao,  his  faithful  friend  and  the  brother  of   Francisco. 

Other  troubles  were  before  them.  The  King  of  Sebu 
had  found  that  the  great  Spaniards  whom  he  had  sup- 
posed came  from  heaven  were  mortal  like  himself.  The 
successful  Silapulapu  had  sent  word  that  unless  he 
broke  his  alliance  with  the  Spaniards  and  renounced 
Christianity,  he  would  invade  his  kingdom.  The  Malay 
slave  interpreter,  Enrique,  becoming  disaffected  towards 
Barbosa,  told  the  King  that  his  masters  were  going  to 
attack  the  town  and  carry  the  King  into  captivity. 

Perhaps  it  was  quite  natural  for  the  King  to  have 
some  doubts  about  his  new-made  friends  ;  and  while  they 
in  turn  did  not  entirely  trust  him,  still  they  were  unpre- 
pared for  his  treachery.  He  sent  word  that  he  had  some 
jewels  which  he  wished  to  give  to  the  King  of '  Spain, 
and  invited  Barbosa  and  several  officials  to  dine  with 
him.  Barbosa  decided  to  accept  the  invitation,  and  took 
twenty-eight  armed  men  with  him. 

The  King  met  them  graciouslv,  and  they  at  last  forgot 


146  FERDINAND  MAGELLAN. 

their  suspicions.  Suddenly  the  King  sprang  from  his 
seat  and  plunged  a  dagger  into  Barbosa's  breast,  and  at 
the  same  instant  each  Spaniard  was  slaughtered  by  an 
Indian.     Only  one  escaped  towards  the  boat,  Serrao. 

Just  as  he  came  near,  the  savages  caught  and  bound 
him ;  but  they  offered  to  release  him  if  those  on  the 
ships  would  give  two  cannon  and  some  merchandise. 
Serrao  begged  for  his  shipmates  to  save  him ;  but  they 
paid  no  attention  to  his  cries,  and  sailed  away  as  fast  as 
possible.  Serrao  was  at  once  stabbed  to  death.  The 
cross  on  the  hillside  was  torn  down,  and  the  natives 
returned  to  their  idols. 

The  fleet  at  this  time  was  not  half  as  large  as  when 
they  left  Seville,  —  then  over  two  hundred  and  seventy  ; 
now  one  hundred  and  fifteen.  The  Concepcion  Avas  so 
unseaworthy  that  she  had  to  be  burned.  Only  the  Vic- 
toria and  the  Trinidad  remained. 

These  two  ships  sailed  along  the  western  coast  of 
Mindanao,  where  they  found  the  King  friendly.  He 
drew  some  blood  from  his  left  hand,  putting  it  on  his 
face,  breast,  and  tongue,  and  the  Spaniards  did  the  same. 
The  King  invited  them  to  his  long,  low  hut,  where  they 
had  fish  and  rice  ;  and  they  also  visited  the  Queen,  sur- 
rounded by  her  slaves.  She  was  weaving  a  mat,  and 
left  her  work  to  play  for  the  visitors  on  a  sort  of  timbrel. 
She  wore  many  gold  rings  and  bracelets,  and  in  the  King's 
house  several  of  the  utensils  were  of  solid  gold. 

They  next  reached  Palawan,  and  found  to  their  de- 
light, as  they  had  only  food  enough  for  eight  days, 
an  abundance  of  pigs,  goats,  yams,  cocoanuts,  and  rice. 

On  June  21  they  started  for  Borneo,  and,  after  a  time, 
entered  its  capital,  Brunai,  where  they  found  about 
twenty-five  thousand  people  —  some  of  the  old  histori- 


FERDINAND  MAGELLAN.  147 

ans  say  one  hundred  thousand  —  living  in  houses  built 
on  piles  in  the  water.  The  chiefs  came  out  to  meet 
them  in  gayly  painted  boats,  bringing  presents  of  honey, 
eggs,  wooden  vessels  filled  with  betel,  which  the  natives 
chewed,  and  arrack,  a  drink  made  from  rice. 

The  Spaniards  sent  handsome  presents  to  the  King,  — 
a  Turkish  coat  of  green  velvet,  a  chair  of  violet  velvet, 
a  glass  vase,  gilt  goblet,  etc.,  with  a  pair  of  slippers  and 
silver  case  of  pins  for  the  Queen,  besides  presents  for 
the  chief  courtiers. 

Twelve  natives,  richly  dressed,  met  the  Spaniards  with 
two  great  elephants,  covered  with  silk,  on  whose  backs 
were  palanquins,  on  which  the  visitors  were  offered 
seats.  The  natives  carried  porcelain  vases  covered  with 
silk  napkins.  These  were  to  receive  the  presents  in- 
tended for  the  King. 

The  palace  of  the  King  was  a  large  house,  reached  by 
a  broad  flight  of  steps.  The  walls  were  hung  with  bril- 
liant silks.  He  was  very  rich,  and  many  of  his  house- 
hold articles  were  of  pure  gold.  Three  hundred  of  the 
King's  guard,  with  daggers  drawn,  their  hilts  of  gold 
studded  with  gems,  their  fingers  covered  with  rings, 
were  stationed  in  the  hall  leading  to  the  royal  apart- 
ment. This  the  Spaniards  could  not  enter,  but  could  see 
the  monarch,  about  forty  years  old,  and  his  little  son, 
surrounded  by  a  number  of  wives.  They  were  not  al- 
lowed to  speak  to  the  King  in  person ;  but  they  could 
give  their  message  to  a  chief,  and  he  to  another,  and  he 
in  turn  to  the  prime  minister,  who  stood  by  the  King's 
side.  They  were  obliged  to  join  their  hands  above  their 
heads,  raise  first  one  foot  and  then  the  other,  make  three 
low  bows  to  the  King,  and  then  kiss  their  hands  to  him. 
After  the  presents  were  laid  at  his  feet,  some  rich  silk 


148  FERDINAND   MAGELLAN. 

and  brocade  were  sent  to  the  Spaniards,  and  they  were 
offered  cloves  and  cinnamon  to  eat.  After  this  a  chief 
entertained  them  with  a  repast  of  chickens,  peacocks, 
veal,  fish,  rice,  and  arrack.  The  rice  they  ate  with  gold 
spoons.  They  were  provided  with  wax  candles,  and 
even  with  oil  lamps. 

Astonished  at  what  they  had  seen,  the  Spaniards  re- 
mained for  a  month,  and  held  traffic  with  the  people. 
They  rode  in  the  King's  barges,  and  the  houses  of  the 
chiefs  were  offered  for  their  use.  The  King  never  left 
his  palace  except  for  hunting,  so  he  did  not  visit  the 
ships. 

The  inhabitants  were  nearly  naked,  were  followers  of 
Mahomet,  skilful  in  making  porcelain  and  china,  and 
rich  in  various  products. 

After  a  month  in  Borneo,  the  ships  sailed  for  the 
Moluccas.  They  were  soon  obliged  to  put  in  to  a  har- 
bor for  repairs.  After  this  they  sailed  south-east,  and 
Nov.  8,  1521,  saw  the  high  peaks  of  Ternate  and  Tidor. 
"  The  pilot,"  says  Pigafetta,  "  told  us  that  they  were  the 
Moluccas,  for  the  which  we  thanked  God,  and  to  comfort 
us  we  discharged  all  our  artillery.  Nor  ought  it  to  cause 
astonishment  that  we  were  so  rejoiced,  since  we  had 
passed  twenty-seven  months,  less  two  days,  always  in 
search  of  these  Moluccas,  wandering  hither  and  thither 
for  that  purpose  among  innumerable  islands." 

They  anchored  in  twenty  fathoms,  close  to  the  shore 
of  Tidor.  Almanzor,  the  King,  received  them  most  cor- 
dially. He  was  a  stately  monarch,  never  bowing  his 
head,  so  that  in  entering  the  cabin  of  the  Trinidad,  he 
was  obliged  to  do  so  from  the  upper  deck,  so  as  not 
to  stoop.  His  servants  carried  golden  vessels  of  water, 
betel,  and  other  necessaries,  and  his  son  bore  his  sceptre 


FERDINAND  MAGELLAN.  149 

before  him.  He  had  two  hundred  wives,  each  noble 
family  being  obliged  to  furnish  one  for  the  King.  These 
women  were  carefully  guarded,  and  any  man  found  near 
their  house  was  put  to  death.  The  King  ate  alone,  or 
with  his  Queen,  a  wife  considered  superior  to  the  other 
two  hundred. 

The  friend  of  Magellan,  Francisco  Serrao,  to  whom 
he  wrote  that  "  he  should  come  to  the  Moluccas,  if  not 
by  way  of  Portugal,  then  by  Spain,"  was  dead.  He 
was  poisoned,  it  was  said,  by  the  King  of  Tidor,  because 
Serrao,  who  was  captain-general  of  the  King  of  Ternate, 
conquering  the  former,  made  him  give  his  daughter  to 
the  King  of  Ternate  as  his  wife. 

One  of  the  sons  of  the  King  of  Ternate  came  with 
the  widow  of  Serrao  and  her  two  little  children  to  the 
fleet. 

Trade  was  soon  begun  with  the  natives.  Several  of 
the  kings  made  treaties,  and  sent  presents  to  Charles  V. 
One  king  desired  to  send  over  four  thousand  pounds  of 
cloves  as  his  present ;  but  the  ships  were  already  so 
laden  with  spices,  that  Espinosa,  the  captain  of  the 
Trinidad,  did  not  dare  take  any  more.  Among  the  presents 
sent  by  this  king  were  some  skins  of  the  bird  of  Para- 
dise. The  Mohammedans,  who  traded  with  the  natives, 
had  told  them  that  this  bird  was  born  in  Paradise,  where 
were  the  souls  of  those  who  died.  As  so  many  wonder- 
ful things  were  in  this  abode  of  souls,  they  accepted 
the  Mohammedan  religion  to  be  allowed  to  share  in 
these  comfoi'ts. 

Dec.  18  the  ships,  filled  to  overflowing  with  spices, 
started  homeward,  sorry  to  leave  the  beautiful  Moluc- 
cas. The  Victoria  started  first,  and  the  Trinidad 
attempted  to  follow  her.     A  bad  leak  was  discovered, 


150  FERDINAND  MAGELLAN. 

and  she  was  obliged  to  remain  and  unload  her  cargo. 
Sad  farewells  were  said,  and  the  Victoria  went  on 
alone. 

She  sailed  south-east  to  the  island  of  Timor,  and  then 
across  the  Indian  Ocean  for  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 
The  ship  was  poor,  and  delay  was  occasioned  by  frequent 
repairs.  The  meat  on  board  spoiled  for  lack  of  salt,  and 
the  sailors  were  reduced  to  living  on  rice.  Scurvy  came 
to  decimate  their  numbers.  Nearly  one-third  of  the  Span- 
iards died,  and  nine  of  the  thirteen  natives.  They  had 
scarcely  enough  men  left  to  work  the  ship. 

At  last,  after  three  years  lacking  twelve  days,  Sept. 
8,  1522,  they  anchored  once  more  at  the  port  of  San 
Lucar  de  Barrameda,  and  next  day  sailed  up  the  river  to 
Seville  in  Spain.  The  Victoria  brought  home  twenty- 
six  tons  of  cloves,  besides  cinnamon,  nutmegs,  and  other 
spices.  Crowds  gathered  to  welcome  the  first  circum- 
navigators of  the  globe ;  cannon  were  fired,  and  there 
was  great  rejoicing,  as  it  was  supposed  that  all  were  lost. 
The  next  day  they  walked  barefoot,  carrying  tapers,  to 
the  churches  of  Santa  Maria  de  la  Victoria  and  Santa 
Maria  de  Antigua,  and  gave  thanks  for  a  safe   return. 

The  Emperor  Charles  V.  sent  for  the  little  band  of 
explorers  to  come  to  Valladolid,  where  he  gave  them  a 
public  welcome.  Each  person  received  a  handsome  pen- 
sion, and  Juan  Sebastian  del  Cano,  the  captain  of  the 
Victoria,  five  hundred  ducats  yearly  and  a  coat-of-arms. 
This  device  consisted  of  two  cinnamon  sticks,  three  nut- 
megs, and  twelve  cloves  with  a  globe,  and  the  words 
"Primus  circumdecllsti  me"  (Thou  first  encompassed 
me.)  Two  Malay  kings  supported  the  shield.  The  nav- 
igators were  surprised  that  they  had  lost  a  day  in  their 
reckoning.     The  Emperor  submitted  the  matter  to  an 


FEUMNANl)  MAGELLAN.  151 

astronomer,  who  showed  that  travelling  with  the  sun 
from  east  to  west,  they  lost  time,  and  from  west  to  east, 
they  gained  time. 

The  Victoria  made  one  more  voyage  to  the  West  In- 
dies. She  was  again  sent  to  Cuba,  and  must  have  gone 
to  pieces  in  some  gale,  as  neither  she  nor  her  crew  was 
ever  heard  of  afterwards. 

After  the  Trinidad  had  been  repaired  at  the  island  of 
Tidor,  Espinosa  decided  to  sail  eastward  across  the 
Pacific  again,  hoping  to  reach  the  Spanish  settlement 
at  Panama.  After  weeks  of  severe  storms,  he  was 
obliged  to  return  to  the  Moluccas.  Three-fifths  of  lus 
men  had  died  from  an  epidemic  on  board,  brought  on  by 
poor  food  and  exposure ;  only  nineteen  were  left  out  of 
fifty-four. 

On  their  return  to  Tidor  they  found  that  the  Portu- 
guese had  come  with  seven  vessels  and  three  hun- 
dred men  under  Antonio  de  Brito  and  demanded  of  the 
King  why  he  had  admitted  Castilians,  when  the  Portu- 
guese had  been  there  so  long  before.  Espinosa  was 
obliged  to  surrender  his  men  and  ship  to  de  Brito ;  yet 
as  Spain  and  Portugal  were  apparently  friendly,  he 
hoped  for  fair  treatment.  The  vessel  soon  went  to 
pieces  in  a  storm,  but  the  Portuguese  saved  her  timbers 
and  used  them  in  building  a  fortress. 

Antonio  de  Brito  wrote  to  his  King  concerning  the 
officers  of  the  Trinidad  that  he  thought  it  would  "  be 
more  to  your  Highness's  service  to  order  their  heads 
to  be  struck  off  than  to  send  them  to  India.  I  kept 
them  in  the  Moluccas,  because  it  is  a  most  unhealthy 
country,  in  order  that  they  might  die  there,  not  liking 
to  order  their  heads  to  be  cut  off,  since  I  did  not 
know  whether  your  Highness  would  be  pleased  or  not." 


152  FERDINAND   MAGELLAN. 

This  certainly  did  not  look  very  promising   for  Espi- 
nosa  and  his  men. 

They  were  obliged  to  go  to  work  for  the  Portuguese, 
until  the  end  of  February,  1523,  when,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  two  carpenters  whom  de  Brito  needed,  they  were 
allowed  to  start  homeward. 

They  were  first  taken  to  Banda.  Four  were  lost  in 
getting  there.  The  others  were  detained  in  Banda  for 
four  months,  and  then  sent  by  way  of  Java  to  Molacca. 
Four  died  there.  Five  months  later  they  were  sent  to 
Cochin  in  India  in  two  or  more  ehips.  The  junk  in 
which  three  sailed  was  never  heard  of.  When  the  others 
reached  Cochin,  the  vessel  which  went  back  to  Portugal 
once  a  year  had  already  gone.  Disheartened,  two  of 
them  hid  themselves  on  board  another  ship  bound  for 
Portugal.  At  Mozambique,  having  been  discovered,  they 
were  put  ashore  with  the  intention  of  sending  them 
back  to  India,  but  one  died  and  the  other  secreted  him- 
self again  on  a  ship,  arrived  at  Lisbon,  and  was  thrown 
into  prison.  He  was  finally  released  by  order  of  the 
King. 

Only  three  were  left  out  of  the  Trinidad's  company  : 
Espinosa,  the  captain,  Mafra,  a  seaman,  and  Master 
Hans,  bombardier  of  the  Victoria.  The  latter  soon  died, 
and  Espinosa  and  Mafra  were  kept  in  prison  for  seven 
months  after  their  arrival  in  Portugal.  Finally  Espi- 
nosa was  released  and  appeared  before  Charles,  who 
made  him  a  noble,  and  gave  him  a  life  pension  of  three 
hundred  ducats. 

The  westward  passage  through  the  Strait  of  Magellan 
had  been  discovered,  and  the  way  round  the  world  ascer- 
tained, but  only  through  fearful  suffering  and  the  loss  of 
over  two  hundred  lives. 


FERDINAND  MAGELLAN.  153 

John  Fiske,  in  his  delightful  and  scholarly  "  Discov- 
ery of  America,"  calls  this  voyage  of  Magellan's  "  the 
most  wonderful  in  history ;  .  .  .  doubtless  the  greatest 
feat  of  navigation  that  has  ever  been  performed,  and 
nothing  can  be  imagined  that  would  sui^ass  it  except  a 
journey  to  some  other  planet." 


SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH. 


SIK  WALTER  EALEIGH,  soldier,  colonizer,  states- 
man, poet,  courtier,  was  born  in  1552  at  Hayes,  in 
the  eastern  corner  of  South  Devon,  England.  He  was 
descended  from  one  of  the  noted  families  of  the  realm, 
who  by  reason  of  much  forced  contribution  to  royalty, 
and  perhaps  also  through  too  costly  manner  of  living, 
had  become  somewhat  reduced  in  their  estates. 

His  mother,  Catherine,  "  a  woman  of  noble  wit  and 
of  good  and  godly  opinions,"  was  a  Roman  Catholic  in 
the  time  of  Queen  Mary,  but  his  father,  Walter,  was  a 
Protestant. 

In  the  persecutions  under  this  Queen,  among  the  here- 
tics shut  up  in  jail  previous  to  their  being  burned  was 
Agnes  Prest,  whom  Mrs.  Raleigh  visited  with  the  hope 
of  converting  her.  The  fearless  Agnes  told  the  gentle- 
woman to  seek  the  body  of  Christ  in  heaven  and  not  on 
earth,  and  that  the  sacrament  was  only  a  remembrance 
of  his  death.  "  As  they  now  use  it,"  she  said,  "  it  is 
but  an  idol,  and  far  wide  from  any  remembrance  of 
Christ's  body,  which  will  not  long  continue,  and  so  take 
it,  good  mistress." 

When  Mrs.  Raleigh  came  home  she  told  her  husband 
that  she  never  heard  a  woman  talk  so  simply,  godly,  and 
earnestly,  "insomuch  that  if  God  were  not  with  her,  she 

154 


SIR    WALTER    RALEIGH. 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  155 

could  not  speak  such  things.  I  was  not  able  to  answer 
her :  I  who  can  read,  and  she  cannot."  This  probably 
went  far  towards  making  Mrs.  Raleigh  a  Protestant. 
Both  parents  are  buried  in  Exeter  Cathedral. 

The  son  Walter  —  he  had  an  older  brother,  Carew, 
and  a  sister  Margaret  —  entered  Oriel  College,  Oxford, 
about  1568,  when  he  was  sixteen  years  old.  Here  he 
was  liked  for  his  wit  as  well  as  his  scholarship,  becom- 
ing "the  ornament  of  the  Juniors  and  a  proficient  in 
oratory  and  philosophy." 

He  left  college  early  to  engage  in  the  religious  wars 
of  the  time.  Queen  Elizabeth,  sympathizing  with  the 
persecuted  Protestants  of  France,  permitted  men  and 
money  to  be  sent  to  their  aid.  Young  Raleigh,  active 
and  full  of  courage,  went  in  a  troop  of  a  hundred  gentle- 
men volunteers,  well  mounted,  led  by  his  cousin,  Henry 
Champernowne,  with  the  motto,  "  Finem  det  mihi  virtus  " 
(Let  valor  decide  the  contest). 

Mr.  Edward  Edwards,  in  his  life  of  Raleigh,  says  that 
although  the  men  were  sent  to  France  by  Queen  Eliza- 
beth and  her  ministers,  each  soldier  wore  on  his  breast  a 
scroll  with  words  explaining  that  if  he  were  captured 
and  hanged,  he  had  met  his  fate,  "for  having  come, 
against  the  will  of  the  Queen  of  England,  to  the  help  of 
the  Huguenots !  "  Such  duplicity  seems  to  have  been 
common  in  those  days. 

Little  is  known  of  Raleigh's  part  in  these  battles  for 
five  or  six  years.  He  says,  however,  in  his  "  History  of 
the  World,"  referring  to  these  times,  "  I  saw  in  the 
third  civil  war  of  France  certain  caves  in  Languedoc 
which  had  but  one  entrance,  and  that  very  narrow,  cut 
out  in  the  midway  of  high  rocks  which  we  knew  not 
how  to  enter  by  any  ladder  or  engine,  till  at  last,  by 


156  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH 

certain  bundles  of  straw  let  clown  by  an  iron  chain,  and 
a  weighty  stone  in  the  midst,  those  that  defended  it 
[Catholics]  were  so  smothered  as  they  surrendered  them- 
selves, with  their  plate,  money,  and  other  goods  therein 
hidden." 

As  Raleigh  was  not  killed  at  the  dreadful  massacre  of 
St.  Bartholomew,  1572,  when  one  hundred  thousand 
people  were  massacred  by  order  of  Charles  IX.,  at  the 
instigation  of  his  mother,  Catharine  de'  Medicis,  it  is 
probable  that  he  found  refuge  in  the  house  of  the 
English  ambassador,  Walsingham,  with  young  Sir  Philip 
Sidney  and  others. 

Raleigh  remained  in  France  until  after  the  death  of 
the  young  King,  Charles  IX.,  May  30,  1574,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-four.  Mr.  William  Oldys,  in  his  life  of  Raleigh, 
1733,  and  Mr.  Arthur  Cayley,  1805,  assert  that  Raleigh, 
on  his  return  to  England,  took  part  in  the  wars  of  the 
Netherlands,  especially  at  Rimenant,  in  August,  1578. 
Don  John  of  Austria  had  been  appointed  governor  of 
the  Low  Countries  by  his  brother,  the  King  of  Spain. 
His  tyranny  became  offensive  to  the  people ;  and  Eliza- 
beth, fearful  of  Spanish  increase  of  power,  aided  the 
Netherlands.  The  latter  gathered  an  army  near  the 
village  of  Rimenant.  Don  John  at  the  head  of  about 
thirty  thousand  men  rushed  upon  them,  when  the  latter 
made  believe  that  they  were  retreating.  Don  John, 
excited  with  the  hope  of  this  easy  victory,  pushed  rap- 
idly onward,  and  soon  came  upon  their  real  camp  with 
nineteen  thousand  soldiers.  He  was  completely  routed, 
and  survived  his  defeat  only  two  months. 

About  this  time  — 1578  —  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  half- 
brother  to  Raleigh,  the  son  of  his  mother  by  a  former 
marriage,  was  preparing  to  make  explorations  along  the 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  157 

Atlantic  coast.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Oxford,  governor 
of  the  province  of  Minister,  a  refined  and  scholarly  man, 
and  had  great  influence  over  Raleigh. 

As  Henry  VII.  had  lost  his  opportunity  of  discovering 
the  New  World,  Isabella  of  Castile  having  assisted  Colum- 
bus just  before  his  brother  Bartholomew  had  gained  the 
promise  of  aid  from  Henry,  the  English  naturally  desired 
some  share  in  the  new-found  lands.  John  Cabot  sailed 
from  Bristol,  England,  May,  1497,  with  two  ships  and 
three  hundred  men,  and  after  going  seven  hundred 
leagues  found  land,  probably  the  island  of  Cape  Breton, 
at  the  eastern  extremity  of  Nova  Scotia.  He  sailed 
along  the  coast  three  hundred  leagues  to  Florida.  Peter 
Martyr  says,  "  Cabot  directed  his  course  so  far  towards 
the  North  Pole  that  even  in  the  month  of  July  he  found 
monstrous  heaps  of  ice  swimming  on  the  sea,  and  in 
manner  continual  daylight ;  yet  saw  he  land  in  that  tract 
free  from  ice,  which  had  been  molten.  Therefore  he 
was  enforced  to  turn  his  sails  and  follow  the  west.  .  .  . 
He  sailed  so  far  towards  the  west  that  he  had  the  island 
of  Cuba  on  his  left  hand." 

It  is  probable  that  Sebastian  Cabot,  the  son  of  John, 
was  with  him  on  this  or  a  later  voyage.  In  Winsor's 
"Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America"  one  finds 
a  valuable  account  of  the  Cabots. 

England,  from  these  discoveries,  felt  that  she  had  a 
right  equally  with  Spain  to  colonize  the  new  country. 
Indeed,  it  is  difficult  to  find  the  "right"  of  any  nation 
to  dispossess  the  Indians,  except  in  the  old  adage  that 
"might  makes  right." 

In  the  autumn  of  1578,  Sept.  23  (according  to  Mr.  J.  A. 
Doyle's  "English  Colonies  in  America"),  Gilbert  sailed 
from  Dartmouth,  England,  for  Newfoundland,  with  eleven 


158  SIR    WALTER  RALEIGH. 

ships  and  enough  food  for  a  year,  with  the  hope  of 
founding  a  colony.  One  of  the  ships  leaked  and  had  to 
be  left  at  home,  and  seven  more  soon  deserted.  There 
was  a  sea-fight  with  the  Spaniards  in  which  Kaleigh  took 
part,  and  Gilbert  was  finally  obliged  to  return  home,  after 
the  loss  of  one  of  his  largest  ships.  That  Raleigh  went 
to  the  West  Indies  before  this  is  probable,  as  there  was 
a  volume,  now  lost,  entitled  "Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  Voy- 
age to  the  West  Indies." 

In  1583,  June  11,  Gilbert  sailed  again  to  Newfound- 
land. He  had  lost  so  much  by  the  previous  unsuccess- 
ful voyage  that  he  was  obliged  to  sell  a  large  part  of 
his  landed  estate.  Raleigh  gave  two  thousand  pounds 
to  fit  out  a  ship  which  bore  his  name,  the  Ark  Raleigh. 
Two  hundred  and  sixty  men  were  enlisted  —  masons,  car- 
penters, miners,  and  those  of  other  trades  —  in  this  fleet 
of  five  ships.  As  Raleigh  was  already  at  court,  and  had 
become  a  favorite  with  Elizabeth,  she  would  not  spare 
him  lest  he  be  in  another  "  dangerous  sea-fight ;  "  but  she 
sent  good  words  to  Gilbert  in  departing,  "  wished  as  great 
goodhap  and  safety  to  his  ship  as  if  herself  were  there  in 
person,"  asked  him  to  send  her  his  picture  by  the  hand  of 
her  handsome  young  courtier,  Raleigh,  and  gave  him  "an 
anchor  guided  by  a  lady  "  to  wear  at  his  breast. 

Two  days  after  starting  from  Plymouth,  the  Ark 
Raleigh,  having  a  contagious  fever  on  board,  went  back 
to  shore.  In  the  latter  part  of  July  the  fleet  reached 
Newfoundland,  and  Gilbert  took  formal  possession  in 
the  Queen's  name.  Thirty-six  ships  of  many  nations 
were  in  St.  John's  harbor  trading  in  codfish  and  whale- 
oil,  but  these  seem  to  have  promised  willing  allegiance 
to  the  Queen.  The  arms  of  England  engraved  on  lead 
were  fixed  on  a  pillar  of  wood.     Gilbert  then  granted 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  159 

parcels  of  land  to  each,  person  for  a  yearly  rent,  as  they 
"found  no  inhabitants,  which  by  all  likelihood  have 
abandoned  these  coasts,  the  same  being  so  much  fre- 
quented by  Christians,"  says  an  old  Chronicle.  The 
savages  had  by  this  time  become  well  convinced  that 
the  "  Christians "  had  not  come  from  heaven  to  bring 
them  blessings,  as  they  had  at  first  supposed. 

Gilbert  enacted  three  laws  :  the  first  that  the  Church 
of  England  should  be  the  recognized  church  ;  that  if  any- 
thing were  attempted  prejudicial  to  her  Majesty's  right 
of  those  territories,  the  offender  should  be  executed  for 
high  treason;  and  if  anybody  should  utter  words  against 
her  Majesty,  he  should  have  his  ears  cut  off  and  his 
property  confiscated. 

Many  of  the  men  soon  became  ill  in  the  new  countries; 
and  several,  tired  of  work  as  were  the  Spaniards  under 
Columbus,  deserted  and  went  home  on  some  fishing- 
vessel.  Gilbert  finally  sent  home  the  sick  on  the  ship 
Swallow,  and  with  the  rest  of  the  fleet  sailed  south- 
ward for  exploration. 

After  seven  days  out  the  Delight,  the  only  large 
ship  of  the  fleet,  with  most  of  the  provisions  and  cloth- 
ing on  board,  struck  a  rock  and  went  to  pieces  in  sight 
of  the  other  ships.  Only  sixteen  men  were  saved  from 
the  wreck,  and  these  were  without  food  or  water.  They 
found  their  way  back  to  Newfoundland  and  later  to 
England. 

The  weather  grew  worse,  food  became  scarce,  and  on 
Aug.  31  Gilbert  sailed  homeward  himself  in  the  Squir- 
rel, of  ten  tons'  burden,  the  smallest  of  the  fleet.  He 
was  urged  to  go  in  a  better  vessel,  but  he  said  he  would 
not  forsake  the  little  company  with  whom  he  had  shared 
so  many  perils.     A  severe  storm  overtook  them  Sept.  9. 


160  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH. 

Gilbert  sat  abaft  with  a  book  in  his  hand,  calling  out  to 
the  men  on  the  Golden  Hind,  "  Be  of  good  heart,  my 
friends  !  We  are  as  near  to  heaven  by  sea  as  by  land." 
At  midnight  his  lights  disappeared,  and  his  ship  sank 
beneath  the  waves.  Only  one  vessel,  the  Golden  Hind, 
returned  to  Falmouth,  the  other  ship  having  gone  down 
with  the  Squirrel. 

Raleigh  meantime  had  been  busy  in  the  wars  in  Ire- 
land. In  the  insurrection  in  Minister,  under  the  Earl  of 
Desmond,  Raleigh  helped  to  subdue  the  Irish,  believing 
then,  as  was  the  usual  belief  at  that  time,  "that  the  Irish 
were  like  nettles,  sure  to  make  those  smart  who  gently 
handled  them,  and  must  be  crushed  to  prevent  stinging." 

Coming  upon  a  party  of  rebels,  and  seeing  one  of  them 
with  a  great  bundle  of  withes,  Ealeigh  asked  what  they 
were  for.  "  To  have  hung  up  the  English  churls," 
was  the  reply.  "  Well,"  said  Raleigh,  "  but  they  shall 
now  serve  for  an  Irish  kern,"  and  immediately,  says 
Oldys,  commanded  that  the  rebel  "  be  tucked  up  in  one 
of  his  own  neckbands."  The  rest  were  put  to  death  in 
some  manner. 

These  were  times  of  little  mercy  on  either  side.  At 
the  siege  of  Eort  del  Ore  in  the  bay  of  Smerwick  in 
Kerry,  for  three  days  Raleigh  had  the  principal  com- 
mand, and  on  the  fourth  it  was  given  to  John  Zouch, 
afterwards  killed  in  a  duel.  On  this  day  the  Italians 
who  were  aiding  the  Irish  waved  the  white  flag,  and 
cried  out,  "  Miser •icordia  !  Misericordia  I  "  The  garrison 
begged  that  their  lives  might  be  spared  if  they  surren- 
dered ;  but  stern  Lord  Grey  would  give  no  quarter,  and 
at  least  six  hundred  men  were  at  once  put  to  death  by 
the  sword.  Raleigh  and  Mackworth  were  ordered  by 
Grey  to  enter  and  "  fall  straight  to  execution."     All  the 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  101 

Irish,  both  men  and  women,  were  hanged.  Two  of 
"  the  best  sort  "  had  their  arms  and  legs  broken  before 
being  hanged  on  a  gallows  on  the  wall  of  the  fort. 

Ealeigh  was  fearless  and  brave,  and  though  severe,  he 
was  only  like  most  others  of  the  time.  Such  severity 
bore  its  own  bitter  fruit  in  Ireland  in  the  centuries  which 
followed. 

Raleigh  gained  much  local  fame  by  the  rescue  of  a 
friend  from  a  river  into  which  his  horse  had  thrown  him. 
He  and  six  companions  while  crossing  a  stream  were  to 
be  seized  if  possible  by  the  rebels,  who  had  a  force  twenty 
times  his  own.  Ealeigh  dashed  through  the  rebel  crowd 
and  crossed  the  river,  when  the  cries  of  his  companion 
for  help  made  him  turn  back.  Raleigh  helped  him  up  ; 
but  Moyle,  his  friend,  in  attempting  to  mount  his  horse, 
fell  on  the  other  side  into  deep  mire,  and  had  to  be  helped 
a  second  time.  Not  one  of  Raleigh's  men  was  secured 
by  the  rebels. 

Raleigh  for  a  short  time  was  Governor  of  Minister  and 
later  of  Cork.  While  at  the  latter  place  he  set  out  with 
ninety  men  to  capture  Lord  Roche  at  his  castle,  Bally- 
in-Harsh.  Five  hundred  of  the  townspeople,  learning 
of  the  approach  of  Raleigh,  had  hastened  to  the  castle 
to  defend  the  owner.  The  young  soldier  —  he  was  now 
about  twenty -eight  —  soon  put  them  to  flight.  He  en- 
tered the  castle,  took  Lord  and  Lady  Roche  and  their 
attendants  twenty  miles  to  Cork  in  the  darkness,  over  a 
rocky  and  difficult  passage,  and  did  not  lose  a  single  man 
in  the  skirmish,  only  one  dying  from  a  fall  in  the  dark 
journey  homeward.  Lord  Roche  became  a  faithful  sub- 
ject of  the  Queen,  and  three  of  his  sons  died  in  her 
service. 

After  two  years  in  Ireland,  Raleigh  was  delighted  to 


1G2  SIR    WALTER  RALEIGH. 

leave  it  for  the  court.  When,  some  years  later,  the  Earl 
of  Desmond  was  beheaded  (his  brother,  Sir  John,  was 
hanged,  his  body  fixed  on  the  gates  of  Cork,  and  his  head 
sent  to  London ;  his  younger  brother,  Sir  James,  was 
also  hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered,  and  the  fragments  of 
his  body  hung  in  chains  over  the  gates  of  Cork),  his  land 
and  that  of  his  confederates,  over  five  hundred  and  sev- 
enty thousand  acres,  passed  to  Elizabeth,  who  gave  it  to 
some  of  her  subjects,  Raleigh  receiving  twelve  thousand 
acres  in  the  counties  of  Cork  and  Waterford.  He  finally 
sold  it  to  Richard  Boyle,  afterward  Earl  of  Cork. 

How  young  Raleigh  became  the  favorite  of  the  Queen 
at  court,  or  was  brought  especially  to  her  notice,  is  not 
certainly  known.  Fuller,  who  was  a  schoolboy  boy  when 
Raleigh  died,  in  his  "  Worthies  of  England  "  tells  this 
story.  The  Queen  was  at  Greenwich:  "Her  Majesty 
meeting  with  a  plashy  place,  made  some  scruples  to  go 
on ;  when  Raleigh  (dressed  in  the  gay  and  genteel  habit 
of  those  times)  presently  cast  off  and  spread  his  new 
plush  cloak  on  the  ground,  whereon  the  Queen  trod  gently 
over,  rewarding  him  afterwards  with  many  suits  for  his 
so  free  and  seasonable  tender  of  so  fair  a  foot-cloth." 

After  this  he  wrote  with  a  diamond  on  a  window-glass, 
where  the  Queen  could  see  it,  — 

"  Fain  would  I  climb,  yet  fear  I  to  fall." 

She  soon  after  wrote  beneath  it,  — 

"  If  thy  heart  fail  thee,  climb  not  at  all." 

Perhaps  a  more  probable  reason  of  his  being  liked  by 
her  was  his  wit  and  manly  bearing  when  summoned  be- 
fore the  lords  to  answer  in  a  dispute  between  himself  and 
Lord  Grey.     "  He  had  much  the  better  in  telling  of  his 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  163 

tale,"  says  Sir  Eobert  Naunton,  later  Secretary  of  State 
under  James  I.,  "  and  so  much  that  the  Queen  and  the 
lords  took  no  small  mark  of  the  man  and  his  parts.  .  .  . 
Raleigh  had  gotten  the  Queen's  ear  at  a  trice ;  and  she 
began  to  be  taken  with  his  elocution,  and  loved  to  hear 
his  reasons  to  her  demands,  and,  the  truth  is,  she  took 
him  for  a  kind  of  oracle,  which  nettled  them  all." 

Raleigh  was  a  man  of  fine  physique,  six  feet  tall,  dark 
hair,  which  very  early  became  gray,  a  face  unusually 
bright  and  alert,  with,  as  Naunton  says,  "a  good  presence 
in  a  handsome  and  well-compacted  person  ;  a  strong  nat- 
ural wit,  and  a  better  judgment;  with  a  bold  and  plausi- 
ble tongue,  whereby  he  could  set  out  his  parts  to  the  best 
advantage." 

His  clothes  were  of  the  richest  material,  and  much 
covered  with  gems.  A  full-length  portrait  of  him  shows 
a  white  satin  pinked  vest,  close-sleeved  to  the  wrist,  a 
brown  doublet  embroidered  with  pearls,  a  sword-belt  also 
embroidered  in  the  same  manner,  the  dagger  on  his  right 
hip  enriched  with  jewels,  the  black  feather  of  his  hat 
with  a  ruby  and  pearl,  his  fringed  garters  of  white  satin, 
and  his  buff-colored  shoes  tied  with  white  ribbons.  His 
shoes  were  so  bedecked  with  jewels  that  one  author  says 
they  were  worth  "six  thousand  six  hundred  gold  pieces." 
His  pearl  hat-band  and  another  jewelled  article  were  once 
stolen  from  him  at  Westminster  ;  and  these,  says  Mr. 
Gosse,  were  worth,  in  money  at  that  time,  one  hundred 
and  thirteen  pounds.  Doubtless  much  of  this  display  was 
to  please  the  Queen,  who,  despite  her  learning  and  un- 
questioned ability,  Avas  extremely  fond  of  dress,  having 
in  later  years,  as  Agnes  Strickland  says  in  her  "  Life  of 
Elizabeth,"  "three  thousand  gowns  and  eighty  wigs  of 
divers  colored  hair."     Under  her  tutor  in  early  life,  Roger 


164  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH. 

Ascham,  she  had  become  proficient  in  several  languages. 
"French  and  Italian  she  speaks  like  English,"  he  wrote  ; 
"  Latin  with  fluency,  propriety,  and  judgment.  She  also 
spoke  Greek  with  me  frequently,  willingly,  and  mode- 
rately well.  .  .  .  She  read  with  me  almost  the  whole  of 
Cicero  and  a  great  part  of  Livy.  .  .  .  The  beginning  of 
the  day  was  always  devoted  by  her  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment in  Greek,  after  which  she  read  select  orations  of 
Isocrates  and  the  tragedies  of  Sophocles,  which  I  judged 
best  adapted  to  supply  her  tongue  with  the  purest  dic- 
tion, her  mind  with  the  most  excellent  precepts,  and  her 
exalted  station  with  a  defence  against  the  utmost  power 
of  fortune." 

He  wrote  later  "that  there  were  not  four  men  in  Eng- 
land, either  in  church  or  the  state,  who  understood  more 
Greek  than  her  Majesty." 

Sir  Eobert  Naunton  said  of  Elizabeth :  "  She  is  of 
personage  tall ;  of  hair  and  complexion,  fair,  and  there- 
withal well-favored,  but  high-nosed  ;  of  limbs  and  feature, 
neat ;  of  a  stately  and  majestic  comportment."  Bacon 
spoke  of  her  "great  dignity  of  countenance,  softened 
with  sweetness."  She  knew  that  her  white,  slender 
hands,  with  long  fingers,  were  beautiful. 

At  this  time,  1582,  Raleigh,  the  court  favorite,  was 
about  thirty,  and  the  Queen  nearly  fifty.  The  Earl  of 
Leicester  (Robert  Dudley)  had  long  been  the  favorite,  so 
much  so  that  it  was  supposed  that  she  would  marry  him. 
Before  her  coronation,  when  she  entered  London  on  horse- 
back, dressed  in  purple  velvet,  he  rode  beside  her.  She 
invested  him  with  the  Order  of  the  Garter,  made  him 
Master  of  the  Horse,  constable  of  Windsor  Castle  and 
forest,  and  keeper  of  the  great  park  during  life.  His 
wife,  Amy    Robsart,  whom  he  had  married  with  great 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  165 

display  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.,  the  brother  of  Eliza- 
beth, was  not  allowed  at  court,  lest  the  Queen  should 
not  bestow  upon  him  so  much  attention.  Her  death  at 
Cumnor  Hall,  Berkshire,  by  falling  down-stairs,  was  be- 
lieved by  many  to  have  been  caused  by  the  earl.  She  must 
at  least  have  died  broken-hearted.  That  Elizabeth  liked 
Leicester  there  is  no  doubt ;  for  she  remarked  to  the 
French  ambassador  laughingly,  "  I  cannot  live  without 
seeing  him  every  day ;  he  is  like  my  lap-dog,  so  soon  as 
he  is  seen  anywhere  they  say  I  am  at  hand ;  and  wher- 
ever I  am  seen,  it  may  be  said  that  he  is  there  also." 

But  she  probably  never  seriously  intended  to  marry  him 
on  account  of  his  inferiority  in  rank  to  herself ;  for  she 
said,  "  The  aspirations  towards  honor  and  greatness 
which  are  in  me  cannot  suffer  him  as  a  companion  and 
a  husband."  She  had  often  declared  that  she  would  not 
marry  at  all,  and  if  she  did,  "  not  a  subject,  for  she  had 
it  in  her  power  to  wed  a  king  if  she  pleased,  or  a  power- 
ful prince." 

It  seemed  as  though  every  nation  offered  her  its  leader 
as  a  husband;  but  she  refused  all,  sometimes  because 
she  thought  England  would  not  like  a  foreign  prince, 
but  more  often  because  she  could  not  like  them  herself. 

Leicester,  probably  in  1572,  after  Amy  Robsart's 
death,  had  married  privately  a  high-born  lady  of  the 
court,  a  cousin  of  the  Queen,  Douglas  Howard,  the  young 
widow  of  Lord  Sheffield.  After  she  had  borne  him  a 
son  and  a  daughter,  it  is  said  that  he  attempted  to  poi- 
son her,  that  he  might  marry  Lettice  Knollys,  also 
a  cousin  of  the  Queen,  and  wife  of  the  Earl  of  Essex. 
Finally  he  divorced  Douglas  Howard  and  married  Let- 
tice Knollys  after  she  became  a  widow.  Her  hus- 
band died  in  1576,  his  death  also  attributed  to  poison 
through  the  agents  of  Leicester. 


166  SIR    WALTER    RALEIGH. 

In  July,  1575,  Leicester  gave  to  Elizabeth  the  won- 
derful entertainment  which  Sir  Walter  Scott  has  de- 
scribed in  his  novel  iC  Kenilworth."  She  with  her  ladies, 
forty  earls,  and  seventy  other  principal  lords  were  feted 
for  eighteen  days  at  this  beautiful  palace.  It  is  said 
that  the  Queen  had  bestowed  this  year  upon  Leicester 
fifty  thousand  pounds,  so  that  he  felt  obliged  to  make 
the  reception  sumptuous. 

As  she  and  her  royal  train  entered  the  gate,  a  poeti- 
cal porter  made  an  address  to  her,  calling  her  — 

"  A  peerless  pearl! 
No  worldly  wight,  I  doubt  —  some  sovereign  goddess,  sure  I 
In  face,  in  hand,  in  eye,  in  other  features  all, 
Yea,  beauty,  grace,  and  cheer — yea,  port  and  majesty, 
Show  all  some  heavenly  peer  with  virtues  all  beset." 

When  the  Queen  arrived  on  the  bridge  before  the  lake 
on  one  side  of  the  castle  a  lady  with  two  nymphs  came 
up  to  her  on  a  movable  illuminated  island,  bright  with 
torches,  and  she  also  made  a  poetical  address.  On  the 
great  temporary  bridge,  twenty  feet  by  seventy,  in  front 
of  the  castle,  were  seven  pairs  of  pillars  with  mythologi- 
cal deities  standing  beside  them,  offering  the  Queen  all 
the  supposed  "good  things"  of  the  realm.  On  the  tops 
of  the  first  pillars  were  cages  of  live  bitterns  and  cur- 
lews ;  on  the  second,  great  silver  bowls,  full  of  apples, 
pears,  cherries,  and  nuts  ;  the  third,  wheat  and  other 
grains;  the  fourth,  red  and  white  grapes;  the  fifth,  sil- 
ver bowls  of  wine,  and  so  on.  A  poet  in  radiant  costume 
explained  all  this  to  the  queen. 

All  the  clocks  were  stopped  at  the  instant  of  her 
arrival,  so  that  none  should  take  note  of  time  while  the 
royal  loved  one  remained.     In  the  evening  the  fireworks 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  167 

were  so  profuse  and  grand  that  they  were  seen  for 
twenty  miles  away. 

Each  day  the  Queen  hunted  or  witnessed  fights 
between  dogs  and  bears  — "  bear-baiting,"  when  the 
dogs  were  let  loose  upon  thirteen  bears  in  a  court, 
where,  says  Laneham  in  his  "  Kenilworth,"  "  there  was 
plucking  and  tugging,  scratching  and  biting,  and  such 
an  expense  of  blood  and  leather  between  them  as  a 
month's  licking,  I  ween,  will  not  recover." 

Sunday  mornings  the  Queen  attended  church,  and  in 
the  afternoon  witnessed  theatrical  plays,  or  pageants  on 
the  lake.  Happily,  times  have  changed  under  Victoria ! 
All  this  did  not  win  a  royal  bride ;  for  Elizabeth  said 
soon  after  to  a  person  who  pleaded  for  Leicester,  "  Shall 
I  so  far  forget  myself  as  to  prefer  a  poor  servant  of  my 
own  making  to  the  first  princes  in  Christendom  ?  " 

Leicester  did  not  like  Raleigh,  because  the  Queen 
showed  the  latter  much  attention.  She  gave  him  con- 
trol over  the  wine  trade  —  each  vintner  was  obliged  to 
pay  him  twenty  shillings  a  year  for  a  license  to  sell 
wines  —  whereby  Raleigh  received  two  thousand  pounds 
a  year,  equivalent  to  about  twelve  thousand  pounds  at 
the  present  time,  says  Mr.  Gosse.  She  also  gave  him 
two  estates  and  a  grant  to  export  woollen  broad- 
cloths, from  which  his  yearly  income,  Mr.  Gosse 
thinks,  was  eighteen  thousand  pounds  of  Victorian 
money.  In  1585  he  was  appointed  lord  warden  of  the 
stannaries,  in  which  position  he  greatly  lessened  the 
hardships  of  the  miners  in  the  west  of  England.  The 
same  year  he  became  lieutenant  of  the  county  of  Corn- 
wall, and  soon  afterwards  vice-admiral  of  the  counties  of 
Cornwall  and  Devon.  In  1587  he  became  captain  of  the 
Queen's  guard. 


168  SIR    WALTER  RALEIGH. 

Other  rich  estates  were  now  given  to  Raleigh.  An- 
thony Babington,  descended  from  a  family  rich  and 
noble  since  the  time  of  Edward  I.,  was  accused  and 
convicted  —  conviction  in  those  days  did  not  always 
mean  proven  guilty  —  of  an  attempt  to  put  Elizabeth  off 
the  throne.  He  was  beheaded  and  his  estates  confis- 
cated. To  Raleigh  were  given  by  the  Queen  three  manors 
in  Lincolnshire,  together  with  lands  and  tenements  at 
West  Terrington  and  Harrick  in  the  same  county,  the 
manor  of  Lee  in  Derbyshire,  and  several  tenements  ;  lands 
and  tenements  at  Kingston  and  at  Thrumpton,  in  Notting- 
hamshire ;  and  his  dwelling-house  and  land  called  Bab- 
ington's  Hall. 

Raleigh  also  leased  of  the  Queen,  for  his  city  resi- 
dence, Durham  House,  a  vast  fourteenth-century  palace, 
where  Elizabeth  had  lived  while  her  brother,  Edward  VI., 
was  alive.     She  reserved  a  few  rooms  for  herself. 

Besides  all  this  wealth,  he  was  now  busy  with  the 
work  of  a  statesman,  having  been  sent  to  Parliament  as 
one  of  the  two  members  from  the  county  of  Devonshire. 
During  all  these  years  he  was  so  much  occupied  that 
he  took  only  five  hours  each  night  for  sleep,  though 
he  would  steal  four  hours  for  reading.  He  was  a  poet, 
writing  much  that  was  considered  admirable  in  that 
age.  He  was  the  intimate  friend  of  Spenser,  the  author 
of  the  "Eaerie  Queene,"  and  obtained  for  him  the  favor 
of  Elizabeth.  The  latter  granted  Spenser  three  thousand 
acres  in  Cork,  out  of  the  Earl  of  Desmond's  estate,  and 
a  yearly  pension  of  fifty  pounds.  He  lost  this  estate  in 
the  rebellion  under  the  Earl  of  Tyrone,  and  died  poor. 

Raleigh  was  so  besought  to  use  his  influence  with 
the  Queen  for  places  of  trust  or  power,  that  once,  when 
he  asked  a  favor,  she  replied,  "When,  Sir  Walter,  will 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  169 

you  cease  to  be  a  beggar  ?  "  to  which  he,  with  quick  wit 
aud  courtesy,  replied,  "  When  your  gracious  Majesty 
ceases  to  be  a  benefactor." 

All  this  time,  while  Raleigh  was  in  favor  with  the 
Queen,  and  Leicester  was  jealous  and  revengeful  in  con- 
sequence, England  was  urging  Elizabeth  to  marry,  or  to 
indicate  who  should  be  her  successor,  in  case  of  her  death. 
She  usually  answered  the  Commons  in  some  non-commit- 
tal fashion,  saying  that  she  thought  marriage  "  best  for  a 
private  woman,  but  as  a  prince,  she  endeavored  to  bend 
her  mind  to  it ;  and  as  for  the  matter  of  the  succession, 
she  promised  that  they  should  have  the  benefit  of  her 
prayers ! " 

At  last,  after  much  talk  about  her  marriage  with 
Charles  IX.  of  France,  and  later,  with  his  brother 
Henry,  and  then  with  a  still  younger  brother,  Alen^on, 
she  seemed  to  be  willing  to  wed  the  last  one.  His  face 
was  badly  marked  by  the  small-pox,  but  the  French 
ambassador  assured  the  Queen  that,  aside  from  this, 
"he  was  a  paragon  above  all  the  other  princes  in  the 
world,"  and  that  a  physician  in  London  could  cure  any- 
body so  pitted,  and  he  would  soon  make  Alencon  "  beau- 
tiful and  worthy  of  her  favor." 

He  was  twenty-two  years  younger  than  the  Queen, 
small  in  stature,  and  exceedingly  plain  in  looks,  —  always 
a  great  objection  to  Elizabeth,  who  was  a  lover  of  beauty. 
However,  he  wrote  ardent  letters,  and  came  in  person  to 
press  his  suit.  Elizabeth  called  him  her  "  poor  frog," 
and  had  made  "  one  little  flower  of  gold,  with  a  frog 
thereon,  and  therein  mounseer,  his  phisnomye,  and  a 
little  pearl  pendant."  These  words  were  written  in  one 
of  her  wardrobe  books. 

The  Duke  of  Alencon,  now  become  Francis,  Duke  of 


170  SIB    WALTER  RALEIGH. 

Anjou,  was  elected  sovereign  of  the  Low  Countries.  She 
assisted  him  with  one  hundred  thousand  crowns,  and 
sent  a  splendid  escort,  to  join  that  from  France,  to 
accompany  her  boy-suitor  to  Antwerp.  Raleigh  was 
one  of  the  leaders  in  this  stately  assemblage.  He  re- 
mained some  time  at  Antwerp,  and  brought  back  mes- 
sages from  William,  Prince  of  Orange,  to  Elizabeth. 

The  people  of  England  were  so  incensed  at  this  in- 
tended marriage,  that  the  ladies  of  honor  wept;  the 
noble  Sir  Philip  Sidney  wrote  her  against  her  marriage 
"  with  a  Frenchman  and  a  papist,  in  whom  the  very  com- 
mon people  know  this,  that  he  is  the  son  of  the  Jezebel 
of  our  age,"  —  his  mother  was  Catharine  de'  Medicis,  — 
and  a  book  was  written  against  it.  The  Queen  had  the 
hands  of  both  the  author,  John  Stubbs,  and  the  publisher 
cut  off  with  a  butcher's  knife  and  mallet  in  the  market- 
place at  Westminster.  Stubbs  was  then  confined  in  the 
Tower,  and,  broken  in  health,  he  died  in  France  soon 
afterwards. 

Still  the  Queen  could  not  stand  against  the  voice  of 
her  subjects,  and  refused  the  Duke,  who  flung  the  ring 
which  she  had  given  him  to  the  ground,  exclaiming 
"that  the  women  of  England  were  as  changeable  and 
capricious  as  their  own  climate  or  the  waves  that  en- 
circled their  island."  After  a  troublous  rule  in  the 
Low  Countries,  he  fled  to  France  and  died  at  his  Castle 
of  Chateau  Thierry,  June  10,  1584. 

While  Raleigh  was  aiding  the  Queen  both  in  Parlia- 
ment and  at  Court,  he  was  following  in  the  footsteps  of 
his  brother,  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  in  his  attempts 
to  colonize  the  New  World  for  England.  He  obtained 
from  Elizabeth,  in  1584,  a  grant  to  him  and  his  heirs 
like  that  which  had  been  given  to  Gilbert,  "  to  discover 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  171 

such  remote  heathen  and  barbarous  lands,  not  actually 
possessed  by  any  Christian  prince,  nor  inhabited  by 
Christian  people,  as  to  him  or  them  shall  seem  good.  .  .  . 
They  shall  enjoy  forever  all  the  soil  of  such  lands  or 
towns  in  the  same,  with  the  rights  and  royalties,  as  well 
marine  as  other  .  .  .  with  full  power  to  dispose  thereof 
in  fee  simple  .  .  .  reserving  always  to  Us,  for  all  service, 
duties,  and  demands,  the  fifth  part  of  all  the  ore  of  gold 
and  silver  there  obtained  after  such  discovery." 

Raleigh  fitted  out  two  ships,  some  say  at  his  own  ex- 
pense, to  go  to  the  New  World  and  investigate  the  best 
locality  for  a  colony.  These  ships,  under  the  command 
of  Captains  Philip  Amadas  and  Arthur  Barlowe,  sailed 
April  27,  1584.  To  the  latter  we  are  indebted  for  an 
account  of  the  enterprise  preserved  in  Hakluyt's  "  Voy- 
ages." To  the  compiler  of  these  voyages,  Richard  Hak- 
luyt,  both  England  and  America  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude. 
When  at  Westminster  School,  he  visited  his  cousin, 
Richard  Hakluyt,  a  scholar  in  cosmography  and  promoter 
of  navigation.  He  then  became  so  interested  in  such 
studies  that  while  at  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  he  read  in 
seven  languages  all  the  discoveries  he  could  find,  and  be- 
came so  eminent  that  he  was  asked  to  give  lectures  on 
navigation.  He  resided  five  years  in  France,  making  the 
acquaintance  of  noted  sea-officers  and  merchants.  He 
collected  and  published,  in  1589,  his  first  volume  of 
voyages,  and  in  1599  and  1G00  the  work  enlarged 
to  three  volumes.  These  books  have  been  a  treasure- 
house  for  all   later  historians. 

The  vessels  reached  the  West  Indies  June  10,  and, 
sailing  south-easterly,  by  July  2  they  "  smelt  so  sweet  and 
so  strong  a  smell,  as  if  we  had  been  in  the  midst  of  some 
delicate  garden  abounding  with  all  kinds  of  odoriferous 


172  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH, 

flowers,  by  which  we  were  assured  that  the  land  could 
not  be  far  distant."'  They  soon  came  to  the  coast,  and 
sailed  along  it  for  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  before 
they  could  find  any  entrance  or  river.  They  entered  the 
first  one  that  appeared,  and  took  possession  of  the  land 
in  the  name  of  the  Queen. 

They  supposed  that  it  was  the  continent,  but  soon 
learned  that  it  was  an  island,  about  twenty  miles  long 
and  six  broad,  called  Eoanoke.  The  land  was  "  so  full 
of  grapes,  as  the  very  beating  and  surge  of  the  sea  over- 
flowed them,  of  which  we  found  such  plenty,  as  well 
there  as  in  all  places  else,  both  on  the  sand  and  on  the 
green  soil,  on  the  hills  as  in  the  plains,  as  well  on  every 
little  shrub  as  also  climbing  toward  the  tops  of  high 
cedars,  that  I  think  in  all  the  world  the  like  abundance 
is  not  to  be  found." 

The  woods  were  full  of  deer,  conies,  and  hare,  "  and 
the  highest  and  reddest  cedars  in  the  world."  They 
were  three  days  on  the  island  before  they  saw  any 
natives,  and  then  one  small  boat  having  three  persons 
in  it.  One  of  the  men  came  on  board  the  ship,  and  re- 
ceived a  shirt  and  hat,  ate  meat,  and  drank  wine.  As 
soon  as  he  reached  his  own  boat  he  began  to  fish,  and 
in  a  half-hour  it  was  "  as  deep  as  it  could  swim,"  which 
load  he  brought  to  the  ship  in  return  for  their  courtesy. 

The  next  day  the  King's  brother,  Granganimeo,  came 
with  forty  or  fifty  men.  The  name  of  the  King  was 
Wingina,  and  the  country  Wingandacoa.  Mr.  William 
Wirt  Henry,  in  Winsor's  "  Narrative  and  Critical  His- 
tory of  America,"  thinks  that  the  natives  did  not  under- 
stand when  asked  the  name  of  the  country,  and  that 
"  Win-gan-da-coa  "  means  "  You  wear  fine  clothes  !  " 

Granganimeo  gave  them  cordial  welcome,  "striking  on 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  173 

his  head  and  breast,  and  afterwards  on  ours,  to  show  we 
were  all  one,  smiling  and  making  show  the  best  he  could 
of  all  love  and  familiarity."  They  gave  the  Indian 
gifts,  and  soon  after  traded  for  chamois  and  deer  skins, 
he  choosing  in  exchange  for  twenty  skins  a  tin  dish, 
which  he  immediately  hung  about  his  neck,  after  making 
a  hole  in  the  brim. 

Granganimeo  soon  brought  his  children  to  the  boat 
with  his  wife.  She  is  thus  described  :  "  well-favored,  of 
mean  stature,  and  very  bashful ;  she  had  on  her  back  a 
long  cloak  of  leather,  with  the  fur-side  next  to  her  body, 
and  before  her  a  piece  of  the  same ;  about  her  forehead, 
she  had  a  band  of  white  coral  ;  ...  in  her  ears  she  had 
bracelets  of  pearls  hanging  down  to  her  middle,  and 
those  were  of  the  bigness  of  good  peas."  Whenever 
she  came  to  the  ship  she  was  attended  by  forty  or  fifty 
women. 

The  King's  brother  sent  every  day  deer,  fruits,  melons, 
pease,  walnuts,  cucumbers,  beans,  and  other  gifts.  Bar- 
lowe  and  seven  others  landed  at  Roanoke,  and  the  wife  of 
Granganimeo  gave  them  a  cordial  reception.  He  was 
not  at  the  village  at  the  time.  She  commanded  her 
people  to  draw  the  white  men's  boat  on  shore,  and  told 
others  to  carry  these  men  on  their  backs  to  the  dry 
ground.  "  When  we  were  come  into  the  outward  room, 
having  five  rooms  in  her  house,  she  caused  us  to  sit 
down  by  a  great  fire,  and  after  took  off  our  clothes  and 
washed  them,  and  dried  them  again  ;  some  of  the  women 
plucked  off  our  stockings  and  washed  them,  some  washed 
our  feet  in  warm  water,  and  she  herself  took  great  pains 
to  see  all  things  ordered  in  the  best  manner  she  could, 
making  great  haste  to  dress  some  meat  for  us  to  eat." 

She  gave  them  boiled  and  roasted  venison,  boiled  and 


174  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH. 

roasted  fish,  melons,  and  the  juice  of  the  grape.  She 
begged  them  to  tarry  all  night ;  but,  as  they  were  few  in 
number,  they  were  afraid.  She  therefore  gave  them 
their  supper  to  take  in  earthen  pots  into  the  boat,  some 
mats  to  cover  them  from  the  rain,  and  sent  thirty  women 
besides  several  men  to  sit  all  night  on  the  bank  beside 
the  boat.  No  wonder  Barlowe  wrote,  "We  found  the 
people  most  gentle,  loving,  and  faithful,  void  of  all  guile 
and  treason,  and  such  as  live  after  the  manner  of  the 
golden  age." 

Raleigh  laid  before  the  Queen  the  report  of  this  fertile 
country  after  the  ships  had  returned  in  the  autumn,  and 
she,  because  it  was  discovered  under  a  virgin  queen, 
named  it  Virginia.  She  also  knighted  Raleigh.  Her 
gift  of  the  control  of  the  wine-selling  of  the  country  was 
that  he  might  have  funds  to  found  an  English  colony  in 
the  new  lands  of  the  virgin  queen.  Elizabeth  was  very 
careful  about  bestowing  titles,  and  during  her  reign,  of 
about  forty-four  }'ears,  created  but  six  earls  and  eight 
or  nine  barons. 

Early  in  the  following  year,  1585,  Raleigh  sent  out  his 
first  colony  of  one  hundred  and  eight  settlers  in  a  fleet 
of  seven  ships,  under  command  of  Sir  Richard  Grenville. 
After  establishing  the  colony,  it  was  to  be  left  under 
Ralph  Lane  as  governor.  Mr.  Doyle  calls  the  latter  "  a 
well-born  adventurer.  .  .  .  He  had  offered  to  raise  an 
English  contingent  for  the  Spanish  King  against  the 
Turks.  Failing  that,  he  had  offered  to  serve  the  King  of 
Eez  against  the  Spaniard.  If  he  might  not  serve  under 
the  banner  of  Rome  or  Islam,  he  was  willing  to  fight 
for  the  Protestant  faith  under  the  Prince  of  Orange.  .  .  . 
In  scarcely  a  document  does  his  name  appear  in  which 
lie  is  not  an  applicant  for  some  office  under  the  Crown. 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  175 

At  one  time  lie  is  an  equerry  at  Court  and  a  hanger-on 
to  Leicester." 

They  set  sail  April  9,  1585,  and  reached  the  coast  of 
Florida  June  20,  anchoring  for  a  time  at  Wococon,  an 
island  near  Roanoke,  and  July  11  crossed  over  to  the 
mainland.  They  explored  the  coast  to  Secotan,  an 
Indian  village  some  sixty  miles  south  of  Roanoke,  and 
were  well  received  by  the  savages.  On  their  way  back 
a  silver  cup  was  stolen,  and  with  needless  severity  to 
the  offenders,  the  English  "burned  and  spoiled  their 
corn  and  town,  all  the  people  being  fled."  It  was  self- 
evident  that  such  a  company  would  not  long  have  peace 
with  the  Indians. 

A  settlement  was  begun  at  the  north-east  corner  of  the 
island  of  Roanoke.  After  a  time  the  Indians  and  they 
were  no  longer  friends.  Granganimeo  was  dead,  and  his 
brother  Wingina,  now  called  Pemissapan,  was  an  enemy. 
The  English  had  no  seed  corn,  and  perhaps  were  too 
much  like  the  Spaniards,  unwilling  to  do  hard  work. 
"Because  there  were  not  to  be  found  any  English  cities, 
nor  snch  fair  houses,  nor  at  their  own  wish  any  of  their 
accustomed  dainty  food,  nor  any  soft  beds  of  down  or 
feathers,  the  country  was  to  them  miserable." 

Lane  made  explorations,  when  the  spring  came,  to  the 
north  and  south  of  the  settlement.  His  men  had  a 
quarrel  with  the  Chowanoks,  and  took  prisoner  their 
king,  Menatonon,  impotent  in  his  limbs,  but  a  "  very 
grave  and  wise  man." 

Learning  from  the  Indians  that  there  were  pearls 
near  the  mouth  of  the  river  Moratoc  (Roanoke),  Lane 
determined  to  set  sail  up  this  river.  Their  food  gave 
out,  and  they  killed  their  two  mastiffs,  boiling  the  flesh 
of  the  doers  with  sassafras  leaves. 


176  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGII. 

Pemissapan  had  laid  his  plans  for  the  massacre  of  the 
settlement.  He  had  reckoned  upon  the  aid  of  Skico,  the 
son  of  Menatonon,  as  Lane  had  once  condemned  Skico 
to  death  for  attempting  to  escape,  but  he  had  afterwards 
been  kind,  and  Skico  was  faithful  to  the  whites,  and 
divulged  the  plans  of  the  red  men.  Pemissapan  and  his 
chief  were  in  turn  surprised  by  Lane.  The  latter  on 
giving  the  watchword  to  his  followers,  Christ  our  victory, 
shot  the  Indians  or  cut  off  their  heads.  "  Thus,"  says 
Lane,  "they  had,  by  the  mercy  of  God  for  our  deliver- 
ance, that  which  they  had  purposed  for  us." 

On  June  8  Sir  Francis  Drake  and  a  fleet  of  twenty-three 
sail,  returning  with  spoils  from  San  Domingo  and  Cartha- 
gena,  touched  at  the  new  settlement.  Lane  asked  him 
to  leave  a  ship  and  some  boats  with  provisions,  and  to 
take  home  the  sick  to  England.  The  Francis,  a  vessel 
of  seventy  tons,  was  sent  to  Lane,  but  a  storm  drove  her 
out  to  sea,  and  she  was  seen  no  more.  Drake  offered  to 
send  the  Bonner,  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  tons ;  but 
the  settlers,  becoming  discouraged,  begged  to  be  taken 
back  to  England.  To  this  Drake  consented.  When  the 
boats  Avere  taking  the  men  out  to  the  ships,  the  sea 
became  so  rough  that  most  of  their  goods,  drawings, 
books,  and  writings  were  necessarily  thrown  overboard. 
They  reached  Plymouth,  England,  July  27,  1586. 

Soon  a  vessel  of  a  hundred  tons  sent  by  Raleigh, 
well  filled  with  supplies,  arrived  at  Roanoke,  but  finding 
the  settlement  deserted,  |  returned  to  England.  Three 
weeks  later  Grenville  came  with  three  ship-loads  of  food, 
and  unwilling  to  lose  control  of  the  country,  left  fifteen 
men  with  supplies  for  two  years.  Lane's  men  in  the 
ships  of  Drake  brought  back  tobacco,  which  soon  came 
into  general  use.     The   legend  has  been  often  told  of 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  177 

Raleigh  smoking  in  his  study,  when  his  servant  came  in 
with  a  pot  of  ale,  and  seeing  Raleigh,  as  he  supposed, 
on  fire,  from  the  smoke  coming  out  of  his  mouth,  threw 
the  ale  over  him,  and  rushed  down-stairs  to  the  family 
exclaiming  that  "  his  master  was  on  fire,  and  before 
they  could  get  up  would  be  burnt  to  ashes." 

Though  the  results  of  this  second  voyage  and  first 
attempt  to  plant  a  colony  were  discouraging,  Raleigh 
sent  out  a  second  colony  in  May,  1587,  consisting  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  householders,  under  Captain  John 
White.  Twelve  men  besides  White  were  incorporated 
as  the  "  Governor  and  Assistants  of  the  city  of  Raleigh." 
Seventeen  of  the  company  were  women,  of  whom  seven 
were  unmarried.  The  fleet  of  three  ships  reached  Hat- 
teras  July  22,  when  White  took  forty  of  his  best  men 
ashore  to  search  for  the  fifteen  left  by  Sir  Richard  Gren- 
ville  the  previous  year.  They  found  only  the  bones  of 
one  man. 

From  the  Indians  they  learned  that  the  warriors  of 
Pemissapan  had  determined  to  revenge  his  death.  Two 
of  their  chief  men  asked  that  two  white  men  should 
come  to  them  unarmed,  for  a  conference.  They  came, 
and  one  of  the  savages  immediately  struck  one  white 
man  over  the  head  with  his  wooden  sword.  The  other 
fled  to  his  company,  and  all  the  whites  gathered  into 
one  house.  This  the  Indians  set  fire  to,  and  in  the  en- 
suing skirmish  all  the  whites  were  killed,  or  fled,  no 
one  ever  knew  where.  White  and  his  men  found  also 
the  fort  which  had  been  built  by  Lane  razed  to  the 
ground,  and  the  "nether  rooms  of  the  houses,  and  also 
the  fort,  overgrown  with  melons  of  divers  sorts,  and 
deer  within  them  feeding  on  those  melons." 

The  houses  of  the  little  settlement  on  Roanoke  Island 


178  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH. 

were  soon  rebuilt.  Aug.  18  a  child  was  born  to  Eleanor, 
the  daughter  of  Governor  White,  and  Ananias  Dare,  and 
being  the  first  white  child  born  in  Virginia,  she  was 
called  Virginia  Dare. 

When  his  little  granddaughter  was  nine  days  old, 
White  returned  to  England  to  give  a  report  of  the  col- 
ony and  bring  out  supplies.  This  journey  was  much 
against  his  wishes,  as  he  preferred  that  some  other  per- 
son should  go,  but  they  would  not  consent.  His  good- 
by  proved  a  final  one. 

He  found  England  on  his  return  preparing  every  ship 
to  meet  the  threatened  invasion  of  the  Spanish  Armada. 
Finally  April  22,  1588,  Sir  Walter  sent  out  two  small 
pinnaces,  the  Brave  and  the  Roe,  with  provisions  and 
fifteen  planters. 

"  These  vessels,"  says  Oldys,  "  minding  more  to  make 
a  gainful  voyage  than  a  safe  one,  ran  in  chase  of  prizes, 
till  at  last  one  of  them  was  met  with  by  a  couple  of 
strong  men-of-war  off  Rochelle,  about  fifty  leagues  to 
the  north-east  of  Madeira,  where,  after  a  bloody  fight, 
the  English  were  beaten,  boarded,  and  rifled.  ...  In  this 
maimed,  ransacked,  and  ragged  condition  the  said  ship 
returned  to  England  in  a  month's  time  ;  and  about  three 
weeks  after  returned  the  other,  having  perhaps  tasted  of 
the  same  fare,  at  least,  without  performing  the  intended 
voyage,  to  the  distress  of  the  planters  abroad  and  dis- 
pleasure of  their  patron  at  home." 

Eor  a  whole  year  no  relief  was  sent,  and  when  at  last 
Governor  White  returned  with  three  vessels  the  settle- 
ment had  disappeared.  Remnants  of  their  goods  were 
found,  and  also  the  name  "  Croatoan,"  an  island,  carved 
on  a  big  tree,  five  feet  from  the  ground,  according  to  an 
agreement  before  White's  departure,  that  if  they  went 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  179 

away,  they  should  indicate  in  what  direction.  The  sor- 
rows of  that  lonely  year  were  never  revealed.  Long  after- 
wards it  was  told  that  a  company  of  white  people  were 
kept  in  slavery  by  the  Indians,  and  finally  massacred  at 
the  instigation  of  Powhatan.  Only  seven  —  four  men, 
two  boys,  and  a  young  maid  (perhaps  Virginia  Dare)  — 
were  preserved  alive  by  a  friendly  chief.  From  these 
were  descended  the  Hatteras  Indians.  They  had  gray 
eyes,  found  among  no  other  tribes. 

Fourteen  years  later  Raleigh  fitted  out  a  ship  at  his 
own  expense,  and  placed  over  the  crew  Samuel  Mace  of 
Weymouth,  who  had  twice  sailed  to  Virginia,  to  search 
for  the  lost  colonists,  but  it  was  of  no  avail.  Raleigh 
gave  up  the  attempt  to  colonize  Virginia;  but  he  said, 
"  I  shall  yet  live  to  see  it  an  English  nation,"  and  his 
prophecy  was  realized.  He  had  spent  forty  thousand 
pounds  on  his  American  enterprises,  and,  though  misfor- 
tunes darkened  his  own  pathway,  his  perseverance  and 
hope  lightened  the  way  for  others.  Better  than  any  one 
of  his  time,  he  saw  England's  unlimited  possibilities  in 
the  New  World,  and  tried  to  grasp  them  for  his  country 
and  his  queen. 

England  was  now,  1588,  absorbed  in  her  preparations 
to  meet  what  the  Spaniards  called  their  "  Invincible 
Armada."  Elizabeth  believed  that  Philip  II.,  the  hus- 
band of  her  sister  Mary,  had  never  felt  friendly  since 
her  refusal  of  him  after  her  sister's  death,  thirty  years 
before.  Philip  II.  asserted  his  claim  to  the  English 
throne  through  the  Lancaster  line. 

Among  the  bitterest  opponents  of  Spain  was  Raleigh, 
lb;  was  one  of  the  nine  commissioners  who  met  to 
consider  the  best  means  of  repelling  the  threatened 
invasion.     He  went  at  once  to  Cornwall  and  Devon  to 


180  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH. 

gather  men  for  the  contest.  He  helped  fortify  the 
coast. 

On  May  29,  1588,  the  Armada  sailed  ont  of  Lisbon, 
with  from  one  hundred  and  forty  to  one  hundred  and 
fifty  ships,  under  the  command  of  the  Duke  of  Medina 
Sidonia,  with  over  thirty  thousand  soldiers,  between 
eight  and  nine  thousand  sailors,  and  over  twenty-four 
hundred  cannon.  The  fleet  was  destined  for  the  coast 
of  Flanders,  where  Alexander  Farnese,  Prince  of  Parma, 
was  stationed  with  about  thirty-five  thousand  men  and 
boats.  This  force  was  to  be  landed  on  the  Isle  of 
Thanet,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Thames,  under  the  protection 
of  the  Armada. 

Leicester  was  sent  with  twenty-three  thousand  men 
to  Tilbury  to  oppose  the  landing  of  Parma.  Another 
army  of  thirty-two  thousand  foot  and  two  thousand 
horse  was  raised  to  defend  the  person  of  the  queen.  So 
sure  was  Philip  II.  of  victory,  that  he  "  gave  great 
charge  to  Duke  Medina  and  to  all  his  captains  that 
they  should  in  no  wise  harm  the  person  of  the  Queen, 
and  that  the  Duke  should,  as  speedily  as  he  might, 
take  order  for  the  conveyance  of  her  person  to  Eome, 
to  the  purpose  that  his  holiness,  the  pope,  should  dispose 
thereof  in  such  sort  as  it  should  please  him." 

Meantime  Elizabeth,  without  fear,  was  visiting  her 
camp  at  Tilbury,  and  making  speeches  to  her  soldiers. 
"  When  she  came  upon  the  ground,"  says  Miss  Strickland, 
"  she  was  mounted  on  a  stately  charger,  with  a  marshal's 
truncheon  in  her  hand,  and,  forbidding  any  of  her  retinue 
to  follow  her,  presented  herself  to  her  assembled  troops, 
who  were  drawn  up  to  receive  their  stout-hearted  liege 
lady  on  the  hill,  near  Tilbury  church.  She  was  attended 
only  by  the  Earl  of  Leicester  and  the  Earl  of  Ormond, 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  181 

who  bore  the  sword  of  state  before  her ;  a  page  followed 
carrying  her  white  plumed  regal  helmet.  She  wore  a 
polished  steel  corslet  on  her  breast." 

Hiding  bareheaded  between  the  lines,  she  said,  "My 
loving  people,  we  have  been  persuaded  by  some  that  are 
careful  of  our  safety  to  take  heed  how  we  commit  our 
selves  to  armed  multitudes  for  fear  of  treachery  ;  but,  I 
do  assure  you,  I  do  not  desire  to  live  to  distrust  my 
faithful  and  loving  people.  Let  tyrants  fear :  I  have 
always  so  behaved  myself,  that  under  God  I  have  placed 
my  chiefest  strength  and  safeguard  in  the  loyal  hearts 
and  good-will  of  my  subjects ;  and,  therefore,  I  am  come 
amongst  you,  as  you  see  at  this  time,  not  for  any  recrea- 
tion and  disport,  but  being  resolved,  in  the  midst  and 
heat  of  the  battle,  to  live  or  die  amongst  you  all  —  to  lay 
down  for  my  God  and  for  my  kingdoms  and  for  my 
people,  my  honor  and  my  blood  even  in  the  dust.  I 
know  I  have  the  body  of  a  weak,  feeble  woman  ;  .  .  . 
rather  than  any  dishonor  should  grow  by  me,  I  myself 
will  take  up  arms — I  myself  will  be  your  general, 
judge,  and  re  warder  of  every  one  of  your  virtues  in  the 
field."  They  received  her  with  acclamations  of  joy,  and 
were  ready  to  die  for  her,  as  they  all  knew  her  courage 
and  ability. 

The  Spanish  Armada,  in  the  form  of  a  crescent,  seven 
miles  long,  sailed  up  the  channel.  The  English  suffered 
all  the  ships  to  pass  by,  and  then  attacked  them  in  the 
rear.  Vessels  of  every  kind  had  come  from  all  parts  of 
Eugland,  so  that  nobles,  merchants,  and  all  classes  with 
any  sort  of  ship  at  their  command  were  gathered  to  save 
the  flag.  The  English  now  had  one  hundred  and  eighty 
sail  under  Admiral  Howard. 

At  the  suggestion  of  the  Queen,  it  is  said,  Lord  How- 


182  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGII. 

ard  took  eight  of  his  least  seaworthy  ships,  smeared 
their  rigging  with  pitch,  filled  them  with  gunpowder,  set 
them  on  fire,  and  in  the  darkness  of  midnight,  Aug.  7, 
floated  them  out  toward  the  Spanish  fleet. 

The  slaughter  was  dreadful.  Some  of  the  Spanish 
ships  caught  fire,  and  the  explosions  were  deafening.  A 
storm  came  up  and  drove  many  of  the  ships  upon  the 
French  coast.  The  English  followed  swiftly,  as  their 
vessels  were  lighter  and  more  easily  handled  than  the 
Spanish  galleons.  Four  thousand  men  were  killed  by 
the  shot  and  shell  in  one  day. 

Many  Spanish  ships  fled  towards  the  Norway  coast, 
and  the  English  followed  till  their  ammunition  gave 
out.  On  the  Irish  coast  seventeen  ships  and  more  than 
five  thousand  men  perished.  Fierce  storms  did  the  rest 
of  the  devastating  work.  As  Raleigh  himself  says,  "A 
great  part  of  them  were  crushed  against  the  rocks ;  and 
those  others  who  landed  were  notwithstanding  broken, 
slain,  and  taken,  and  so  sent  from  village  to  village, 
coupled  in  halters  to  be  shipped  into  England ;  where 
her  Majesty,  of  her  princely  and  invincible  disposition, 
disdaining  to  put  them  to  death,  and  scorning  either  to 
retain  or  entertain  them,  they  were  all  sent  back  again 
to  their  own  country  to  witness  and  recount  the  worthy 
achievements  of  their  invincible  navy."  Only  a  little 
more  than  fifty  of  the  ships  reached  Spain.  "  There  was 
not  a  famous  or  worthy  family  in  all  Spain,"  says  Hak- 
luyt,  "which  in  this  expedition  lost  not  a  son,  a  brother, 
or  a  kinsman  !  " 

There  was  the  greatest  rejoicing  all  through  England 
at  the  victory.  In  November  her  Majesty  went  in  state 
to  St.  Paul's  to  a  public  thanksgiving  for  the  result  and 
to  listen  to  a  sermon  from  the  words,  "  Thou  didst  blow 


SIR    WALTER  RALEIGH.  183 

with  thy  winds  and  they  were  scattered."  She  was 
seated  in  a  triumphal  car,  like  a  throne,  under  a  canopy 
supported  by  four  pillars,  drawn  by  milk-white  horses. 
Close  to  her  rode  Robert  Devereux,  Earl  of  Essex,  Master 
of  the  Horse.  (His  widowed  mother  had  married  Lei- 
cester, who  had  died  Sept.  4,  1588,  on  his  way  to  Ken- 
il worth,  angered  at  his  queen  because  she  had  not 
made  him  Lord-Lieutenant  of  England  and  Ireland  for 
his  services  against  the  Armada.) 

Thousands  of  people  witnessed  the  great  procession. 
When  the  people  cried  "God  save  your  Majesty!"  she 
said,  "God  save  you  all,  my  good  people  !  Ye  may  well 
have  a  greater  prince,  but  ye  shall  never  have  a  more 
loving  prince." 

Many  medals  were  struck  in  commemoration  of  the 
victory.  One  was  a  fleet  under  full  sail,  with  the 
words,  "  Venit,  vidit,  fugit"  —  "It  came,  it  saw,  it  fled." 
Another  bore  the  device  of  fire  ships  scattering  the 
Spanish  fleet,  and  the  words,  "Dux  fcemina  facti"  — 
"It  was  clone  by  a  woman,"  in  remembrance  of  the  sug- 
gestion of  Elizabeth,  which  proved  so  valuable. 

Raleigh  was  praised  and  rewarded,  not  only  for  his 
brave  fighting,  but  for  his  invaluable  advice  to  Lord 
Howard  not  to  grapple  and  board  the  Spanish  ships  as 
he  was  urged  to  do.  He  wrote  later  in  his  "  History  of 
the  World,"  that  the  "Lord  Charles  Howard  would  have 
been  lost  in  1588  if  he  had  not  been  better  advised  than 
a  great  many  malignant  fools  were  that  found  fault  with 
his  demeanor.  The  Spaniards  had  an  army  aboard  them, 
and  he  had  none  [none  well  drilled  for  service]  ;  they 
had  more  ships  than  he  had,  and  of  higher  building  and 
charging ;  so  that  had  he  entangled  himself  with  those 
great  and  powerful  vessels,  he  had  greatly  endangered 


184  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH. 

this  kingdom  of  England.  For  twenty  men  upon  the 
defence  are  equal  to  a  hundred  that  board  and  enter." 

During  the  next  few  years  after  the  destroying  of  the 
Armada,  there  were  frequent  captures  of  Spanish  ships 
as  prizes  on  the  seas.  Sir  Walter  fitted  out  several 
vessels  which  did  great  damage,  enriched  him,  and  made 
him  hated  more  than  ever  by  Spain. 

Leicester  during  life  had  never  felt  friendly  to 
Raleigh,  and  it  is  said  had  sent  the  young  Essex,  the 
son  of  his  wife,  to  Court,  with  the  hope  of  lessening 
the  influence  of  Raleigh  with  the  Queen.  He  was  a 
handsome,  brilliant  youth,  but  little  past  twenty,  while 
the  Queen  was  much  over  fifty.  He  was  extravagant, 
being  already  twenty-three  thousand  pounds  in  debt,  im- 
pulsive, generous,  and  fearless.  When  brought  to  Court, 
at  the  age  of  eleven,  the  Queen  offered  to  kiss  him, 
which  he  refused.  When  he  was  again  at  Court  in  offi- 
cial capacity,  he  seems  quickly  to  have  won  her  admira- 
tion, as  some  of  the  people  about  the  Court  said,  "  When 
she  is  abroad,  nobody  is  near  her  but  ray  Lord  of  Essex ; 
and  at  night,  my  Lord  is  at  cards,  or  one  game  or 
another  with  her  till  the  birds  sing  in  the  morning." 
He,  too,  was  opposed  to  Raleigh  ;  being  disturbed  at  some 
supposed  neglect  by  the  Queen  to  his  sister,  he  wrote  to 
a  friend  that  it  was  done  to  him,  "  only  to  please  that 
knave  Raleigh,  for  whose  sake  I  saw  she  would  both 
grieve  me  and  my  love,  and  disgrace  me  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world." 

Elizabeth  would  not  hear  hiin  speak  a  word  against 
Raleigh,  although,  he  says,  "I  spoke,  what  of  grief  and 
choler,  as  much  against  him  as  I  could ;  and  I  think  he, 
standing  at  the  door,  might  very  well  hear  the  worst  that 
I  spoke  of  himself.     In  the  end,  I  saw  she  was  resolved 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  185 

to  defend  him,  and  to  cross  me.  ...  I  told  her  'I  had 
no  joy  to  be  in  any  place,  but  was  loath  to  be  near  about 
her,  when  I  knew  my  affection  so  much  thrown  down, 
and  such  a  wretch  as  Raleigh  highly  esteemed  by  her.' 
.  .  .  The  queen,  that  hath  tried  all  other  ways,  now  will 
see  whether  she  can,  by  these  hard  courses,  drive  me  to 
be  friends  with  Raleigh,  which  rather  shall  drive  me 
to  many  other  extremities." 

Both  these  men  soon  came  under  the  royal  displeas- 
ure. Essex  had  secretly  married  in  1591  Frances  Wal- 
singham,  the  widow  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  the  soldier 
whom  Essex  had  made  his  model,  though  the  latter 
fell  far  short  of  the  pattern.  She  was  the  only 
daughter  of  the  celebrated  statesman  Sir  Francis 
Walsingham,  who  had  been  one  of  Elizabeth's  truest 
counsellors.  The  Queen  on  account  of  this  marriage 
banished  Essex  from  her  presence  for  several  months, 
and  would  not  let  him  be  Chancellor  of  Oxford,  which 
so  distressed  him,  and  wounded  his  pride,  that  while 
away  at  war  he  wrote  to  a  friend,  "  If  I  die  in  the 
assault,  pity  me  not,  for  I  should  die  with  more  pleas- 
ure than  I  live  with ;  if  I  escape,  comfort  me  not,  for 
the  Queen's  wrong  and  unkindness  are  too  great." 

The  next  year,  1592,  her  other  favorite,  Raleigh,  com- 
mitted a  similar  offence  by  a  love  affair  with  Elizabeth 
Throgmorton,  a  maid  of  honor,  the  daughter  of  Sir 
Nicholas  Throgmorton,  who  had  served  Elizabeth  with 
marked  ability  as  her  ambassador  in  France.  He  had 
been  banished  by  Queen  Mary,  and  nearly  lost  his  life. 
When  Elizabeth  came  to  the  throne  he  was  a  trusted  but 
bold  adviser.  Having  differed  with  Throgmorton,  she 
became  angry,  and  said,  "  Villain,  I  will  have  thy  head  !  " 
to  which  the  statesman  calmly  replied,  "  You  will  do  well, 


186  SIB    WALTER   E  A  LEIGH. 

madam,  to  consider,  in  that  case,  how  you  will  after- 
wards keep  your  own  on  your  shoulders." 

Raleigh  and  Elizabeth  Throgmorton  were  at  once 
imprisoned  in  the  Tower,  and  were  privately  married, 
whether  before  or  after  this  time  is  not  known.  For 
four  years  Raleigh  was  under  the  displeasure  of  the 
Queen.  If  she  could  not  marry  Ealeigh,  a  subject,  she 
evidently  wished  nobody  else  to  marry  him. 

Oldys  thus  describes  the  picture  of  the  woman  who 
won  Raleigh's  heart,  and  who  kept  it  to  the  end  of  life, 
making  a  true  wife  and  devoted  mother  to  their  two  chil- 
dren, Walter  and  Carew.  It  was  painted  about  eight 
years  after  their  marriage.  "  It  represents  her  a  fair, 
handsome  woman,  turned  perhaps  of  thirty.  She  has  on 
a  dark-colored  hanging-sleeve  robe,  tufted  on  the  arms ; 
and  under  it  a  close-bodiced  gown  of  white  satin,  flow- 
ered with  black,  with  close  sleeves  clown  to  her  wrist. 
She  has  a  rich  ruby  in  her  ear,  bedropped  with  large 
pearls ;  a  laced  whisk  rising  above  her  shoulders ;  a 
bosom  uncovered,  and  a  jewel  hanging  thereon,  with 
a  large  chain  of  pearls  round  her  neck,  down  to  her 
waist." 

Raleigh,  with  his  heretofore  active  life,  chafed  at  his 
imprisonment.  Ambitious,  successful,  rich,  and  perhaps 
withal  fond  of  the  Queen,  who  had  so  honored  him  above 
almost  all  others  in  the  realm,  he  constantly  bewailed 
his  fate,  saying  that  his  heart  would  break  if  he  could 
not  see  his  sovereign,  "  whom  I  have  followed  so  many 
years  with  so  great  love  and  desire  in  so  many  journeys." 

Before  Raleigh  was  sent  to  the  Tower,  early  in  1592, 
he  planned  an  expedition  to  retaliate  upon  the  Spaniards 
by  seizing  their  rich  carracks  from  India,  and  attacking 
their  pearl  treasuries  at  Panama.     He  and  his  associates 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGU.  187 

furnished  thirteen  vessels  at  great  expense,  and  the 
Queen  added  two  ships  of  war.  Sir  Walter  was  made 
Admiral  of  the  fleet.  They  were  long  delayed  by  storms, 
and  the  Queen,  thinking  herself  unwise  to  spare  so  valu- 
able a  man  for  such  a  dangerous  enterprise,  sent  orders 
for  him  to  resign  and  return  and  let  Sir  Martin  Frobisher 
have  his  place.  He,  however,  felt  it  impossible  to  turn 
back  at  first,  as  he  had  arranged  the  enterprise,  but  being 
badly  damaged  by  a  storm  off  Cape  Finisterre,  a  part  of 
the  fleet  went  to  the  Azores  to  intercept  the  Spanish  ships 
from  India,  and  a  part  to  cruise  near  the  coast  of  Spain. 
One  of  the  largest  "Indian  Carracks,".Madre  de  Dios, 
the  "  Mother  of  God,"  was  taken  by  Raleigh's  ship,  The 
Roebuck.  Her  cargo  was  estimated  to  be  worth  five 
hundred  thousand  pounds,  in  carpets,  silks,  rubies,  pearls, 
ivory,  musk,  spices,  and  other  precious  things  from 
India.  She  was  the  most  famous  plate-ship  of  the  times, 
and  carried  sixteen  hundred  tons.  Philip  II.  had  told 
his  men  to  sink  her  rather  than  let  her  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  English. 

She  was  plundered  at  every  port,  and  the  sailors  had 
helped  themselves  to  treasures ;  but  when  she  entered 
Dartmouth,  Sept.  7,  she  had  over  one  hundred  and  forty 
thousand  pounds'  worth  of  valuables  on  board. 

The  officers  and  men  were  indignant  when  they  reached 
England  and  found  Raleigh  in  the  Tower.  The  feeling 
was  so  intense  that  he  was  released  temporarily,  and 
came  with  his  keeper  to  Dartmouth  to  superintend  the 
unloading  of  the  prize. 

"  His  poor  servants,  to  the  number  of  one  hundred  and 
forty  goodly  men,  and  all  the  mariners,"  writes  Sir  Robert 
Cecil,  "came  to  him  with  such  shouts  and  joy,  as  I  never 
saw  a  man  more  troubled  to  quiet  them  in  my  life.     But 


188  SIR    WALTER    RALEIGH. 

his  heart  is  broken  ;  for  he  is  extremely  pensive  longer 
than  he  is  busied,  in  which  he  can  toil  terribly.  .  .  .  When- 
soever lie  is  saluted  with  congratulations  for  liberty,  he 
doth  answer  '  No,  I  am  still  the  Queen  of  England's  poor 
captive.' "  When  his  half-brother,  Sir  John  Gilbert, 
came  to  see  him,  Sir  John  wept. 

Raleigh  received  little  or  nothing  in  return  for  his 
great  expenditure  save  the  increased  hatred  of  Spain. 
But  being,  in  a  measure,  forgiven  by  the  Queen,  he  re- 
tired to  his  beautiful  estate  of  Sherborne,  where  for  two 
years  he  set  out  trees,  orchards,  gardens,  and  groves,  and 
enjoyed  the  quiet  of  home  life  with  the  woman  he  really 
loved.  It  is  believed  that  he  was  the  first  to  bring  orange- 
trees  into  England  and  the  first  to  plant  the  potato  in 
Ireland,  on  his  estates  there.  In  1594  their  son  Walter 
was  born  at  Sherborne. 

By  this  time  it  was  known  that  Spain  was  growing 
rich  out  of  the  colonies  planted  in  the  New  World.  The 
hopes  of  Columbus  a  century  before  were  now  having 
fulfilment.  The  Spaniards,  as  ever,  in  search  of  gold, 
believed  there  was  a  city  or  country  in  the  northern  part 
of  South  America  in  Guiana  called  "  El  Dorado,"  or  the 
Golden  City.  Some  of  their  travellers  reported  seeing 
an  Indian  chief,  on  a  solemn  occasion,  anoint  his  body 
with  turpentine,  and  then  cover  himself  with  gold-dust. 
Others  reported  that  many  of  the  natives,  before  their 
great  feasts,  covered  themselves  with  white  balsam,  which 
they  called  Curcai,  and  powdered  themselves  with  gold- 
dust  till  they  looked  like  statues  of  gold. 

Francisco  Lopez  de  Gomara  wrote  that  in  Manoa,  the 
capital  of  the  empire  of  Guiana,  in  the  house  of  Inga, 
the  Emperor,  "  all  the  vessels  were  of  gold  and  silver, 
both  on  the  table  and  in  the  kitchen  ;  that  in  his  ward- 


SIR    WALTER  RALEIOU.  189 

robe  were  hollow  statues  of  gold  which  seemed  giants  ; 
and  the  figures,  in  proportion  and  bigness,  of  all  the 
beasts,  birds,  trees,  and  herbs  that  the  earth  brings  forth, 
and  of  all  the  fishes  that  the  sea  or  waters  of  his  king- 
dom breeds.  Finally,  there  was  nothing  in  his  country 
whereof  he  had  not  the  counterfeit  in  gold." 

Many  parties  of  Spaniards  had  lost  their  lives  in  this 
search  for  gold.  Gonzalo  Pizarro,  the  brother  of  the 
conqueror  of  Peru,  in  1540  set  out  with  three  hundred 
and  forty  Spaniards  and  about  four  thousand  Indians 
from  Quito.  They  journeyed  two  thousand  five  hundred 
miles,  and  finally  returned  disappointed.  "They  had 
eaten  their  saddles  on  the  road ;  their  horses  were  long 
dead ;  their  arms  broken  and  rusted  ;  the  skins  of  wild 
beasts  hung  loosely  about  their  limbs  ;  their  matted  locks 
streamed  down  their  shoulders ;  their  faces  had  been 
blackened  by  a  tropical  sun ;  their  bodies  wasted  by 
famine." 

Ealeigh  never  feared  hardship,  but  courted  adventure. 
He,  too,  determined  to  find  out  if  Guiana  were  really  one 
great  gold  mine.  In  the  year  1594  he  sent  out  Captain 
Jacob  Whiddon  to  explore  the  Orinoco  River  and  its 
tributaries.  He  was  hindered  in  his  work  by  the  Spanish 
Governor  of  Trinidad,  Antonio  de  Berreo,  and  returned 
with  little  accomplished. 

The  next  year,  Feb.  6,  1595,  Raleigh  set  sail  with  five 
ships  and  one  hundred  officers  and  soldiers,  besides  the 
crews,  to  make  the  search  for  himself.  He  arrived 
March  22.  Berreo  had  given  orders  that  no  Indian 
should  go  on  board  of  Raleigh's  ships  under  penalty  of 
being  hanged  and  quartered.  However,  the  Spaniard 
had  been  so  brutal  in  his  treatment  of  the  natives,  that 
many  came  to  Raleigh  and  begged  his  protection.      The 


190  SIR    WALTER  RALEIGU. 

latter  attacked  and  took  the  town  of  Saint  Joseph, — 
Berreo  he  made  a  prisoner,  —  where  he  found  bound  to 
one  chain,  five  Indian  chiefs  who  had  been  cruelly  tor- 
tured and  were  at  the  point  of  death.  Berreo  put  broil- 
ing bacon  on  the  bare  limbs  of  his  victims. 

Baleigh  left  his  ships  in  the  Gulf  of  Baria  and  pro- 
ceeded in  some  small  boats  to  explore  Guiana.  Berreo 
used  all  his  blandishments  to  prevent  him  from  going, 
as  he  had  intended  to  go  himself  later.  He  told  Baleigh 
that  he  possessed  already  ten  images  of  fine  gold,  which 
he  was  to  send  to  the  King  of  Spain. 

On  this  exploring  tour  Baleigh  and  his  men  suffered 
much,  as  he  said  in  his  report,  now  reprinted  in  Hak- 
luyt's  "  Voyages,"  "  being  all  driven  to  lie  in  the  rain  and 
weather  in  the  open  air,  in  the  burning  sun,  and  upon 
the  hard  boards,  and  to  dress  our  meat,  and  to  carry  all 
manner  of  furniture  in  them.  Wherewith  they  were  so 
pestered  and  unsavory,  that  what  with  victuals,  being 
mostly  fish,  with  the  wet  clothes  of  so  many  men  thrust 
together,  and  the  heat  of  the  sun,  I  will  undertake  there 
was  never  a  prison  in  England  that  could  be  found  more 
unsavory  and  loathsome." 

They  were  absent  from  their  ships  a  month,  in  and 
out  of  the  various  branches  that  formed  the  great  Ori- 
noco, eleven  hundred  and  twenty  miles  long,  which 
receives  four  hundred  and  thirty-six  rivers  and  two 
thousand  smaller  streams.  They  found  the  people,  says 
Sir  Walter,  "  goodly  and  very  valiant,  and  have  the  most 
manly  speech  and  most  deliberate  that  ever  I  heard  of 
what  nation  soever.  In  the  summer  they  have  houses 
on  the  ground,  as  in  other  places.  In  the  winter  they 
dwell  upon  the  trees,  where  they  build  very  artificial 
towns  and  villages."     "  The  river   Orinoco   rises  thirty 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  191 

feet,"  says  Sir  Walter,  "  and  covers  the  islands  through 
several  months  of  the  year." 

"  The  religion  of  the  Epuremei  is  the  same  which  the 
Ingas,  emperors  of  Peru,"  says  Raleigh,  "  used,  which  may 
be  read  in  Cieca,  and  other  Spanish  stories :  how  they 
believe  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  worship  the  sun,  and 
bury  with  them  alive  their  best-beloved  wives  and  treas- 
ure, as  they  likewise  do  in  Pegu  in  the  East  Indies,  and 
other  places. 

"  The  Orono  Koponi  bury  not  their  wives  with  them, 
but  their  jewels,  hoping  to  enjoy  them  again.  The  Ar- 
wacas  dry  the  bones  of  their  lords,  and  their  wives  and 
friends  drink  them  in  powder.  In  the  graves  of  the 
Peruvians  the  Spaniards  found  their  greatest  abundance 
of  treasure ;  the  like  also  is  to  be  found  among  these 
people  in  every  province.  .  .  , 

"Their  wives  never  eat  with  their  husbands,  nor 
among  the  men,  but  serve  their  husbands  at  meals,  and 
afterward  feed  by  themselves." 

However,  a  woman  of  ability  seems  to  have  taken  an 
important  position  among  them,  as  she  does  in  any  land 
or  time,  as  Raleigh  speaks  of  the  wife  of  a  chief,  who 
"  did  not  stand  in  awe  of  her  husband,  but  spoke  and 
discoursed,  and  drank  among  the  gentlemen  and  captains, 
and  was  very  pleasant." 

Sometimes  Raleigh's  company  were  stranded  on  the 
sand  ;  sometimes  the  high  trees  grew  so  close  to  the 
river  banks  as  to  make  the  air  stifling,  and  they  were 
nearly  famished,  before  they  could  find  birds  "of  all  col- 
ors, —  carnation,  orange-tawny,  purple,  green,  watchel,  — 
and  of  all  other  sorts,"  which  they  used  for  food.  They 
saw  many  alligators,  and  a  young  negro  who  belonged 
to  the  company,  having  leaped  out  to  swim,  was  devoured 


192  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH. 

before  their  eyes.  Some  canoes  were  captured  full  of 
bread,  the  owners  having  disappeared  in  the  woods,  and 
this  food  proved  a  great  blessing. 

They  saw  hundreds  of  natives,  men  and  women,  and 
the  English  gained  their  good-will,  as  Sir  Walter  allowed 
no  stealing,  and  the  penalty  for  an  insult  to  the  wife  or 
daughter  of  a  savage  was  death. 

The  Spaniards  not  only  stole  women,  but  trafficked  in 
them,  buying  from  the  cannibals  girls  of  twelve  or  fourteen 
for  three  or  four  hatchets  apiece,  and  selling  them 
in  the  West  Indies  for  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  crowns 
each. 

The  Indians  never  forgot  Raleigh,  and  inquired  tenderly 
about  him  long  years  after  he  was  in  his  grave. 

A  chief,  Topiawari,  one  hundred  years  old,  told  Sir 
Walter  much  about  the  people,  and  gave  his  only  son  for 
a  hostage  to  be  sent  to  England,  in  proof  of  his  friendli- 
ness and  willingness  to  help  them  in  the  future,  when 
they  should  come  with  more  men  to  visit  the  great  city  of 
Manoa.  Raleigh  left  in  exchange  for  the  Indian  boy,  Hugh 
Goodwin,  who  desired  to  learn  the  language.  He  could 
not  have  been  devoured  by  a  tiger,  as  some  authorities 
say,  as  twenty-two  years  afterwards  Raleigh  met  him, 
and  he  had  almost  forgotten  English.  Francis  Sparry 
volunteered  to  stay  with  the  lad,  Hugh,  and  returned 
to  England  in  1602. 

In  Sparry's  account  of  his  adventures  south  of  the  Ori- 
noco, he  records  the  purchase  "  of  eight  young  women, 
the  eldest  whereof  was  but  eighteen  years  of  age,  for 
one  red-hafted  knife,  which  in  England  had  cost  me  a 
halfpenny."  He  could  not  have  made  such  a  transaction 
under  Raleigh. 

Raleigh  was  charmed  with  the  country :    "  The  deer 


SIR    WALTER  RALFAGII.  193 

crossing  in  every  path,"  he  says,  "  the  birds  towards  the 
evening  singing  on  every  tree  with  a  thousand  several 
tunes,  cranes  and  herons  of  white,  crimson,  and  carna- 
tion, perching  on  the  river's  side,  the  air  fresh  with  a 
gentle,  easterly  wind." 

But  the  hardships,  on  the  whole,  discouraged  the  men, 
and  they  were  obliged  to  retrace  their  way  to  the  ships, 
a  severe  storm  nearly  destroying  them  and  their  boats, 
without  a  sight  of  "El  Dorado,"  which  Raleigh  was  sure 
existed,  but  which  has  never  been  found. 

On  his  return  to  England  in  the  fall  of  1595  he  hoped 
to  be  received  at  Court  for  his  exploration  and  glowing 
words  about  his  Queen  to  the  Indians,  —  he  had  "dilated 
at  large,"  he  says,  "  on  her  greatness,  her  justice,  her 
charity  to  all  oppressed  nations,  with  as  many  of  the 
rest  of  her  beauties  and  her  virtues  as  either  I  could 
express  or  they  conceive,"  —  and  her  praise  in  a  volume 
soon  published  concerning  this  voyage,  which  was  trans- 
lated into  Latin,  German,  and  French.  It  was  a  graceful, 
glowing  narrative,  and  Mr.  Gosse  says:  "As  it  was  the 
first  excellent  piece  of  sustained  travellers'  prose,  so  it 
remained  long  without  a  second  in  our  literature." 

It  is  thought  by  some  that  Raleigh,  on  his  return, 
brought  into  England  the  pineapple,  so  called  because  it 
resembles  the  cones  of  the  pine-tree;  concerning  which 
James  I.  said,  "  It  was  a  fruit  too  delicious  for  a  subject 
to  taste  of !  " 

Elizabeth,  however,  had  not  forgotten  Ealeigh's  love 
for  Miss  Throgmorton,  and  he  was  allowed  to  remain  at 
Sherborne  with  no  word  of  approval  from  her.  Sir  Wal- 
ter mourned,  and  knew  "the  like  fortune  was  never 
offered  to  any  Christian  prince."  It  was  evident  that 
Elizabeth  did  not  wish  to  be  secondary  even  in  the  heart 


194  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH. 

of  a  subject.  She  could,  in  a  measure,  forgive  Essex,  a 
youth  of  twenty,  for  marrying,  but  not  Sir  Walter,  a  man 
of  forty. 

The  next  year,  1596,  Raleigh  sent  Captain  Laurence 
Keymis,  who  had  been  with  him  the  previous  year,  to 
Guiana,  and  he  explored  the  coast  from  the  north  of  the 
Orinoco  to  the  Amazon.  Before  the  year  was  passed  he 
sent  another  ship  under  Captain  Leonard  Berry,  wishing 
to  keep  alive  his  intercourse  with  the  Indians,  and  hoping 
to  interest  his  Queen  later.  He  attempted  to  send  thir- 
teen vessels  two  years  later,  in  J  598,  under  his  half- 
brother,  Sir  John  Gilbert,  but  the  plan  was  for  some 
reason  defeated. 

England  was  again  busy  in  chastising  Spain.  As  Philip 
II.  had  made  a  vow  '-'to  avenge  the  destruction  of  the 
Armada  on  Elizabeth,  if  he  were  reduced  to  pawn  the 
last  candlestick  on  his  domestic  altar,"  it  seemed  best  to 
cripple  his  power  once  for  all.  June  1,  1596,  a  fleet  of 
ninety-three  English  vessels  and  twenty-four  Dutch,  with 
nearly  sixteen  thousand  men,  set  sail  for  Cadiz  to  attack 
Spain  on  her  own  ground.  Essex  and  Admiral  Charles 
Howard  commanded  the  ships,  and  Raleigh  and  Lord 
Thomas  Howard  joined  in  the  council  of  war. 

The  Admiral  and  Essex  determined  to  land  the  sol- 
diers and  attack  the  town  before  they  assaulted  the 
Spanish  fleet.  When  Raleigh  arrived  Essex  was  disem- 
barking the  men.  There  was  a  heavy  sea,  and  some  of 
the  boats  sunk.  Raleigh  at  once  came  on  board  of 
Essex's  ship,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  officers  protested 
against  such  a  course  as  endangering  the  whole  armies. 
He  said,  "  The  most  part  could  not  but  perish  in  the  sea 
ere  they  come  to  set  foot  on  ground  ;  and  if  any  arrived 
on  shore,  yet  were,  they  sure  to  have  their  boats  cast  on 


SIR    WALTER    RALEIGH.  195 

their  heads,  and   that   twenty    men  in  so  desperate  a 
descent  would  have  defeated  them  all." 

The  Earl  of  Essex  yielded  to  Raleigh,  and  begged  him 
to  convince  the  Admiral.  Raleigh  at  once  went  to  him, 
and,  gaining  his  consent,  called  out  to  Essex,  Intramus, 
when  the  impulsive  Essex  cast  his  plumed  hat  into  the 
sea  for  joy.  The  officers  accepted  Raleigh's  plan  of 
attack,  and  it  was  decided  that  he  should  lead  with  his 
ship,  the  War  Sprite. 

At  the  break  of  day  the  English  vessels  swept  into  the 
harbor.  Before  them  lay  seventeen  galleys,  the  fortress 
of  St.  Philip  and  other  forts,  besides  six  great  galleons 
and  ships,  about  fifty-seven  in  all. 

The  fight  lasted  six  hours,  and  was  terrible.  Two 
great  Spanish  ships,  the  St.  Philip  and  St.  Thomas,  burned 
themselves  rather  than  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Eng- 
lish. "They  tumbled  into  the  sea,"  says  Sir  Walter 
"  heaps  of  soldiers,  so  thick  as  if  coals  had  been  poured 
out  of  a  sack  in  many  parts  at  once,  some  drowned,  and 
some  sticking  in  the  mud.  .  .  .  Many  drowned  them- 
selves; many,  half-burnt,  leaped  into  the  water,  very 
many  hanging  by  the  ropes'  ends  by  the  ship's  side  under 
the  water,  even  to  the  lip  ;  many  swimming  with  griev- 
ous wounds  stricken  under  water,  and  put  out  of  their 
pain." 

Raleigh  had  an  especial  desire  to  be  revenged  on  the 
St.  Philip,  which  had  helped  cause  the  death  of  his  cousin, 
Sir  Richard  Grenville,  who  was  formerly  engaged  with 
Raleigh  in  the  expeditions  to  Virginia.  Grenville  hud 
gone  to  the  Azores  in  a  fleet  in  1501  to  help  capture 
some  Spanish  ships.  The  English  were  surprised  by  the 
Spaniards,  and  the  Revenge,  the  ship  of  Grenville,  with 
one  hundred  men,  sustained  for  fifteen  hours  the  guns  of 


190  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH. 

fifteen  ships,  and  repulsed  them  all,  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable battles  in  English  naval  history.  The  St.  Philip, 
the  great  Spanish  galleon,  did  the  most  damage.  The 
Revenge  was  cut  down  to  the  hull,  her  deck  covered 
with  shattered  bodies.  Grenville  was  moved  against  his 
will  to  a  Spanish  ship,  and  soon  died,  exclaiming  in  Span- 
ish, "  Here  die  I,  Richard  Grenville,  with  a  joyful  and 
quiet  mind,  having  ended  my  life  like  a  true  soldier  that 
has  fought  for  his  country,  queen,  religion,  and  honor." 

Raleigh  was  so  wounded  in  the  leg  during  the  sea-fight 
that  he  could  not  help  attack  the  town,  but  as  he  could 
not  bear  to  be  left  behind,  he  was  carried  into  Cadiz  on 
the  shoulders  of  some  of  his  men. 

Cadiz  at  this  time  was  a  large  and  handsome  city, 
the  chief  See  of  the  bishop,  and  had  a  fine  college  — 
Essex  brought  back  the  famous  library  of  the  Bishop  of 
Algarve  and  gave  it  to  Sir  Thomas  Bodley.  It  is  now  in 
the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford.  The  city  soon  surren- 
dered. The  people  had  liberty  to  take  with  them  what- 
ever goods  or  clothes  they  could  carry,  which  permission, 
says  Oldys,  "produced  a  remarkable  example  in  a  beau- 
tiful young  Spanish  lady,  who,  leaving  all  that  was 
precious  and  valuable,  bore  away  her  old  and  decrepit 
husband  upon  her  back,  whom  before  she  had  hidden 
from  the  danger  of  the  enemy  ;  herein  imitating  the 
piety  of  the  Bavarian  women  after  the  conquest  of  their 
country  by  the  Emperor  Conrad  III." 

The  next  morning  Raleigh  desired  to  follow  the  fleet 
of  forty  carracks,  bound  for  the  Indies,  which  lay  in 
Puerto  Real  road,  as  they  were  said  to  be  worth  twelve 
millions.  In  the  confusion  no  answer  was  returned. 
In  the  afternoon  the  merchants  of  Cadiz  and  Seville 
offered  two  millions  if  the  fleet  could  be  spared.     Mean- 


SIR  WALTER   RALEIGH.  197 

time  the  Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia  set  fire  to  the  fleet, 
and  all  was  destroyed. 

Many  who  had  captured  rich  Spanish  prisoners  were 
given  large  ransoms.  Raleigh  got  nothing  for  his  brav- 
ery, except,  as  he  says,  "  a  lame  leg  and  a  deformed.  I 
have  not  wanted  good  words,  .  .  .  but  I  have  possession 
of  naught  but  poverty  and  pain." 

The  Queen  did  not  take  him  back  to  Court  till 
almost  a  year  after  the  successful  battle  of  Cadiz,  from 
which  Spain  never  rallied. 

It  was  soon  learned  that  the  King  of  Spain  was  to 
make  one  more  effort  to  invade  England  and  Ireland. 
In  the  spring  of  1597  he  fitted  out  a  fleet,  which  the 
storms  scattered  as  they  did  the  Armada. 

Meantime  Elizabeth  resolved  upon  the  so-called  is- 
lands voyage,  to  intercept  the  Spanish  plate-fleet  at  the 
Azores.  She  sent  one  hundred  and  twenty  ships  with  six 
thousand  soldiers.  Essex  was  commander-in-chief,  and 
Raleigh  rear-admiral.  Fayal  was  to  be  taken  by  Essex 
and  Raleigh,  and  other  ports  by  various  commanders. 
Essex  sailed  first,  but  Raleigh  reached  the  harbor  before 
the  earl.  The  people  at  once  began  to  leave  the  town, 
while  the  fort  opened  fire,  and  six  companies  of  men 
opposed  the  landing  of  the  English.  Raleigh  waited 
two  days  for  Essex  to  arrive,  when  his  men  became  so 
impatient  for  the  attack,  that  he  promised  to  lead  them, 
the  third  day  if  Essex  did  not  come. 

On  the  fourth  day,  with  a  party  of  two  hundred  and 
sixty  men,  Raleigh  pushed  his  boats  to  the  landing-place. 
This  was  guarded  by  a  mighty  ledge  of  rocks,  some  forty 
paces  long  into  the  sea,  with  a  narrow  lane  between  two 
walls.  The  men  stood  back  dismayed  when  they  saw 
the  defile,  and  the  shot  poured  upon  them  ;  but  Raleigh 


198  SIR    WALTER    RALEIGU. 

rebuked  them,  as  Oldys  says,  "Clambering  over  the 
rocks,  and  wading  through  the  water,  he  made  his  way 
pellmell  through  all  their  fire,  with  shot,  pike,  and  sword 
up  to  the  narrow  entrance,  where  he  so  resolutely  pur- 
sued his  assault,  that  the  enemy,  after  a  short  resistance, 
gave  ground ;  and  when  they  saw  his  forces  press  faster 
and  thicker  upon  them,  suddenly  retiring,  they  cast 
away  their  weapons,  and  betook  themselves  to  the  hills 
and  woods." 

Then  Raleigh  led  his  forces  into  the  town ;  and  when 
some  of  the  new  soldiers  shrank  from  the  contest,  —  two 
had  their  heads  taken  off  by  big  shot,  and  many  were 
wounded,  —  Raleigh  went  to  the  very  front,  though  he 
was  "  shot  through  the  breeches  and  doublet-sleeves  in 
two  or  three  places."  When  they  had  passed  the  forts 
it  was  found  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  town,  Villa 
Dorta,  had  fled,  leaving  such  things  as  could  not  be 
removed  suddenly.  The  town  contained  about  five  hun- 
dred stone  houses  and  many  choice  gardens.  Among 
those  who  fought  bravely  were  Captain  Laurence  Key- 
mis,  who  had  been  with  Raleigh  in  the  voyage  to 
Guiana. 

The  next  morning  Essex  arrived,  and  was  very  angry 
because  Raleigh  had  not  waited  for  him,  and  had  already 
won  all  the  glory.  Peace  was  finally  made  between  the 
two  leaders,  and  the  fleet  returned  to  England  with  three 
good  prizes,  laden  with  cochineal  and  other  merchandise, 
and  some  ships  from  Brazil.  The  King  of  Spain  lost 
through  this  expedition  eighteen  ships,  including  two 
of  his  best  galleons.  Raleigh  returned  to  his  place  in 
Parliament,  with  his  health  much  broken.  He  was  soon 
made  governor  of  Jersey,  with  the  gift  of  the  manor  of 
St.  Germain  on  that  island. 


SIB    WALTER   RALEIGH.  199 

For  a  year  or  more  Raleigh  and  Essex  had  not  been 
friends.  The  latter,  impulsive,  and  with  a  temper  not 
under  control,  had  lost  the  favor  of  the  Queen,  who  had 
always  petted  him  like  a  spoiled  child.  She  had  made 
him  general  of  her  armies,  when  everybody  knew  he  was 
too  young  and  inexperienced.  Whenever  the  Queen 
made  appointments  which  did  not  suit  him,  he  feigned 
illness,  and  would  not  appear  at  Court. 

In  a  council  meeting  when  the,  as  usual,  disturbed 
condition  of  Ireland  was  being  discussed,  the  Earl  of 
Essex  was  so  strenuous  in  his  desires,  that  the  Queen, 
forgetting  her  womanly  dignity,  boxed  him  on  the  ear, 
saying,  "  Go,  and  be"  hanged  ! " 

At  once  Essex  grasped  his  sword-hilt,  when  the  ad- 
miral, Charles  Howard,  stepped  between  them.  The 
Earl  declared  "  that  he  would  not  have  taken  that  blow 
from  King  Henry,  her  father,  and  that  it  was  an  indig- 
nity that  he  neither  could  nor  would  endure  from  any 
one  ! "     He  was  forgiven  later,  and  returned  to  Court. 

Essex  had  at  one  time  saved  the  life  of  the  Queen, 
by  discovering  the  plot  of  her  physician,  Lopez,  who  was 
a  Jew.  Two  confederates  confessed  that  Lopez,  through 
the  Spanish  court,  was  to  poison  the  queen  for  fifty 
thousand  crowns.  Lopez  died  on  the  scaffold  affirming 
"  that  he  loved  the  Queen  as  well  as  he  did  Jesus  Christ," 
an  assertion  ill-received  by  the  people  who  knew  his 
religious  faith. 

In  March,  1599,  Essex  was  appointed  Lord-Lieutenant 
of  Ireland.  His  enemies  were  pleased  to  get  him  away 
from  Court,  so  that  they  could  have  more  influence  with 
the  Queen ;  but  he  seems  to  have  found  the  position 
utterly  distasteful,  for  he  wrote  Elizabeth  :  "  From  a 
mind  delighting  in   sorrow ;    from  spirits   wasted  with 


200  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH. 

passion  ;  from  a  heart  torn  in  pieces  with  care,  grief, 
and  travail ;  from  a  man  that  hateth  himself,  and  all 
things  else  that  keep  him  alive,  —  what  service  can  your 
Majesty  expect,  since  any  service  past  deserves  no  more 
than  banishment  and  proscription  to  the  cursedest  of 
islands." 

The  Earl  of  Tyrone  was  in  rebellion.  Essex,  with 
a  desire  to  restore  tranquillity  to  the  distracted  nation, 
had  a  conference  with  Tyrone,  and  sent  his  requests 
to  her  Majesty.  She,  surrounded  by  advisers  who 
hated  Essex,  and  Ireland  as  well,  could  not  say  bit- 
ter things  enough  about  such  a  pacific  attempt.  Finally 
Essex  determined  to  return  and  see  the  Queen  in  person. 

As  soon  as  he  had  reached  her  at  her  palace  at  Non- 
such, in  the  early  morning,  he  went  directly  to  her  apart- 
ments, (and  knelt  before  her  "  covering  her  hands  with 
kisses." )  She  received  him  with  some  marks  of  favor, 
though  she  was  still  displeased,  especially  that  he  should 
have  left  Ireland  without  asking  her  leave.  She  ordered 
him  to  consider  himself  a  prisoner  in  his  apartment  till 
his  conduct  should  be  investigated.  Through  such  petty 
acts  as  this,  England  learned  later  that  in  the  hands  of 
no  one  man  or  woman  can  any  great  amount  of  power  be 
trusted.     Tyrants  are  easily  made. 

Essex  was  removed  in  a  day  or  two  to  the  lord- 
keeper's  charge  at  York-house,  and  the  Queen  went  to 
Richmond.  Lady  Walsingham  went  and  made  humble 
suit  that  Essex  might  write  to  his  wife  (who  was  Frances 
Walsingham),  as  she  had  just  given  birth  to  an  infant, 
but  the  stern  Queen  refused.  So  much  in  anger  was  she 
that  she  walked  the  floor,  exclaiming,  "I  am  no  Queen  — 
that  man  is  above  me  !  Who  gave  him  command  to 
come  here  so  soon  ?     I    did    send    him   on   other  busi- 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  201 

ness  ! "     When  he  became  ill,  she  would  not  permit  his 
own    physician   to   attend   him ;   and   yet   if  she   ever 
loved  anybody,  it  was  young  Essex. 
On  her  birthday  Essex  wrote  her  :  — 

Vouchsafe,  dread  Sovereign,  to  know  there  lives  a  man,  though 
dead  to  the  world  and  in  himself  exercised  with  continued  tor- 
ments of  body  and  mind,  that  doth  more  true  honor  to  your  thrice 
blessed  day  [anniversary  of  her  accession  to  the  throne]  than  all 
those  that  appear  in  your  sight.  .  .  . 

For  they  that  feel  the  comfortable  influence  of  Your  Majesty's 
favor,  or  stand  in  the  bright  beams  of  your  presence,  rejoice  partly 
for  Your  Majesty's,  but  chiefly  for  their  own  happiness.  Only 
miserable  Essex,  full  of  pain,  full  of  sickness,  full  of  sorrow, 
languishing  in  repentance  for  his  offences  past,  hateful  to  himself 
that  he  is  yet  alive,  and  importunate  on  death,  if  your  favor  be 
irrevocable  :  he  joys  only  for  Your  Majesty's  great  bappiness  and 
happy  greatness;  and  were  the  rest  of  his  days  never  so  many, 
and  sure  to  be  as  happy  as  they  are  like  to  be  miserable,  he  would 
lose  them  all  to  have  this  happy  seventeenth  day  many  and  many 
times  renewed,  with  glory  to  Your  Majesty  and  comfort  of  all  your 
faithful  subjects,  of  whom  none  is  accursed  but 

Your  Majesty's  humblest  vassal, 

Essex. 

The  wife  of  Essex  finally  came  to  beg  for  him,  and 
brought  the  queen  a  jewel ;  but  it  was  returned,  and  the 
haughty  monarch  sent  back  word  "  that  she  must  attend 
her  Majesty's  pleasure  by  the  lords  of  the  council,  and 
come  no  more  to  Court." 

Essex  had  now  become  very  ill,  so  that  his  life  was 
despaired  of.  Some  of  the  privy  council  urged  the 
Queen  to  forgive  him,  while  others  urged  his  being  sent 
to  the  Tower,  or  beheaded.  Twice  a  warrant  was  made 
out  for  his  removal  to  the  Tower,  but  the  Queen  would 
not  sitm  it.     She  so  far  relented  as  to  allow  his  wife  to 


202  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH. 

come  daily  to  see  him,  and  ordered  her  own  physician 
to  take  him  some  broth  with  the  message  "  that  if  it 
were  not  inconsistent  with  her  honor,  she  would  have 
come  to  visit  him  herself." 

The  enemies  of  Essex  were  busy  preparing  pageants 
of  all  kinds,  that  Elizabeth  might  forget  the  earl,  and 
that  the  people  might  also  forget  him,  for  he  was  popu- 
lar because  of  his  bravery  and  generosity.  The  Queen 
outwardly  seemed  to  enjoy  them,  but  she  was  in  private 
greatly  dejected. 

At  last  Essex,  after  a  partial  return  to  health,  was 
tried  before  the  commissioners  for  a  whole  day.  When 
accused  of  treason  he  protested,  with  his  hand  upon  his 
heart,  "  This  hand  shall  pull  out  this  heart  when  any 
disloyal  thought  shall  enter  it."  He  was  pardoned,  but 
forbidden  to  appear  at  Court.  Afterwards  he  wrote 
urging  that  the  license  from  wines  —  about  fifty  thou- 
sand pounds  yearly  —  be  renewed  to  him  as  he  was 
deeply  in  debt ;  but  this  wish  was  not  granted. 

Essex  at  last,  humble  and  penitent  though  he  had 
been,  began  to  murmur  at  the  Queen.  She  certainly  had 
shown  anything  but  a  lovable  nature  to  the  man  whom 
she  had  seemingly  idolized.  "The  Queen,"  he  said, 
"  has  pushed  me  down  into  private  life.  I  will  not  be 
a  vile,  obsequious  slave.  The  dagger  of  my  enemies 
has  struck  me  to  the  hilt.  I  will  not  be  bound  to  their 
car  of  triumph." 

It  was  reported  to  the  Queen  that  he  said  she  was  an 
"  old  woman,  crooked  both  in  body  and  mind."  His  house 
became  the  centre  of  the  disaffected.  He  wrote  private 
letters  to  the  King  of  the  Scots,  afterwards  James  I., 
to  urge  his  being  recognized  as  successor  to  the  throne, 
a  matter  Elizabeth  never  wished  to  hear  about. 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  203 

Whether  with  or  without  reason,  he  believed  that 
Raleigh  was  a  bitter  enemy.  He  had  written  to  the 
Queen  when  he  was  in  Ireland,  deprecating  the  fact  that 
Lord  Cobham,  Raleigh,  and  others  "  should  have  such 
credit  and  favor  with  Your  Majesty  when  they  wish  the 
ill  success  of  Your  Majesty's  most  important  action, 
the  decay  of  your  greatest  strength,  and  the  destruction 
of  your  faithfullest  servants." 

This,  of  course,  was  not  true,  however  much  he  might 
have  believed  it,  for  Raleigh  was  always  loyal  to  his 
sovereign.  If  Raleigh  really  thought  it  advisable  that 
the  earl  should  die,  as  would  seem  from  a  letter  to  Sir 
Robert  Cecil  — 

("  If  you  take  it  for  a  good  counsel  to  relent  towards 
this  tyrant,  you  will  repent  it  when  it  shall  be  too  late. 
.  .  .  The  less  you  make  of  him,  the  less  he  shall  be  able 
to  harm  you  and  yours ;  and  if  her  Majesty's  favor  fail 
him,  he  will  again  decline  to  a  common  person.  Lose 
not  your  advantage ;  if  you  do,  I  read  your  destiny.") 
then  Raleigh  experienced  the  Bible  words  literally : 
"  With  what  measure  ye  mete,  it  shall  be  measured  to 
you  again."  The  letters  of  Essex  to  James  I.  embittered 
that  monarch  against  Raleigh, — he  always  thought  that 
Cecil  and  Raleigh  helped  to  bring  "  my  martyr  Essex  " 
to  the  grave,  —  and  paved  the  way  for  his  own  sad  fate. 

It  had  been  planned  at  Essex  House,  the  home  of  the 
earl,  that  a  chosen  few  should  go  around  to  the  palace 
of  the  Queen,  seize  the  gate,  rush  into  her  presence,  and 
on  their  knees  beg  her  to  remove  the  adversaries  of 
Essex  from  her  council.  If  she  did  not  consent  to  this, 
Essex  would  call  a  parliament  and  demand  justice. 

Feb.  7,  1601,  Essex  received  a  summons  to  appear  be- 
fore  the  privy  council,  his  actions  having  caused  con- 


204  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH. 

cdrn.  He  was  advised  by  his  friends  to  make  his  escape, 
but  he  determined  to  appeal  to  the  people,  knowing  how 
much  they  loved  him. 

On  Sunday  morning,  Feb.  8,  Essex  had  three  hundred 
followers  at  his  house.  That  very  morning  Sir  Ferdi- 
nando  Gorges,  a  cousin  of  Ealeigh's,  had  been  sent  for 
by  the  latter  to  meet  him  at  Durham  House.  Essex 
advised  that  they  meet  on  the  Thames.  They  did  so, 
when  Raleigh  urged  Gorges  to  escape,  as  there  was 
a  warrant  out  for  his  arrest.  Sir  Christopher  Blount, 
who  had  married  the  mother  of  Essex  after  her  second 
husband,  Leicester,  was  dead,  shot  at  Raleigh  four  times 
as  he  was  going  back  to  his  boat  to  Durham  House,  with 
the  desire  either  to  kill  or  to  capture  him. 

About  ten  o'clock  on  this  Sunday  morning  the  lord 
chief-justice  and  a  few  others  came  to  Essex  House,  and 
inquired  why  so  many  persons  were  gathered  in  the 
court.  Essex  then  told  his  wrongs,  and  rushing  out  with 
his  followers  down  Fleet  Street,  cried,  "  England  is  sold 
to  Spain  by  Cecil  and  Raleigh!  Citizens  of  London, 
arm  for  England  and  the  Queen  !  "  Waving  his  sword, 
he  shouted,  "  For  the  Queen  !  for  the  Queen  !  " 

The  people  did  not  rise,  as  he  had  foolishly  expected. 
The  streets  were  soon  barricaded,  and  he  was  declared  a 
traitor. 

The  Queen  was  at  dinner  when  told  that  Essex  was 
trying  to  arouse  the  city.  Her  attendants  were  greatly 
alarmed ;  but  she  proposed  going  to  oppose  the  insurgents, 
saying  "  that  not  one  of  them  would  dare  to  meet  a  sin- 
gle glance  of  her  eye.  They  would  flee  at  the  very 
notice  of  her  approach." 

That  night  Essex  and  his  men  were  arrested  and 
lodged  in  Lambeth  Palace,  and  the  next  day  confined  in 
the  Tower. 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  205 

After  an  all-day  trial  Essex  was  condemned  to  death. 
He  said,  "  I  am  not  a  whit  dismayed  to  receive  this  doom. 
Death  is  welcome  to  me  as  life.  Let  my  poor  quarters, 
which  have  done  her  Majesty  true  service  in  divers 
parts  of  the  world,  be  sacrificed  and  disposed  of  at  her 
pleasure." 

The  story  of  the  ring  which  Elizabeth  gave  to  Essex 
with  the  promise  "that  if  ever  he  forfeited  her  favor,  if 
he  sent  it  back  to  her,  the  sight  of  it  would  ensure  her 
forgiveness,"  has  been  disputed,  though  it  was  vouched 
for  by  the  descendants  of  the  Careys,  closely  related  to 
the  Queen.  Lady  Elizabeth  Spelman,  a  relative,  thus 
relates  it :  — 

"  When  Essex  lay  under  sentence  of  death,  he  deter- 
mined to  try  the  virtue  of  the  ring  by  sending  it  to  the 
Queen,  and  claiming  the  benefit  of  her  promise ;  but 
knowing  he  was  surrounded  by  the  creatures  of  those 
•who  were  bent  on  taking  his  life,  he  was  fearful  of  trust- 
ing it  to  any  of  his  attendants.  At  length,  looking  out 
of  his  window,  he  saw,  early  one  morning,  a  boy  whose 
countenance  pleased  him,  and  him  he  induced  by  a  bribe 
to  carry  the  ring,  which  he  threw  down  to  him  from 
above,  to  the  Lady  Scroope,  his  cousin,  who  had  taken 
so  friendly  interest  in  his  fate.  The  boy,  by  mistake, 
carried  it  to  the  Countess  of  Nottingham,  the  cruel  sister 
of  the  fair  and  gentle  Scroope  ;  and  as  both  were  ladies 
of  the  royal  bed-chamber,  the  mistake  might  easily  occur. 
The  countess  carried  the  ring  to  her  husband,  the  lord- 
admiral,  who  was  the  deadly  foe  of  Essex,  and  told  him 
the  message,  but  he  bade  her  suppress  both." 

The  Queen  seems  to  have  expected  that  Essex  would 
send  some  message ;  for  it  was  long  before  she  could  be 
prevailed  upon  to  sign  the  death-warrant,  and  even  after 


206  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH. 

she  had  done  so  she  revoked  it.  Finally  she  ordered 
the  execution  to  proceed.  He  was  beheaded  Feb.  25, 
1G01.  Elizabeth  told  the  Duke  de  Biron,  who  came  over 
at  the  head  of  a  state  embassy  from  France,  "  that  not- 
withstanding Essex's  engaging  in  open  rebellion,  he 
might  still,  by  submission,  have  obtained  her  pardon, 
but  that  neither  his  friends  nor  relations  could  prevail 
on  him  to  ask  it." 

What  must  have  been  the  horror  of  Elizabeth  when, 
two  years  later,  the  dying  Countess  of  Nottingham, 
according  to  Lady  Spelman,  told  her  the  true  story  of 
the  ring,  and  said  she  could  not  die  in  peace  till  she  had 
craved  the  pardon  of  the  Queen  !  Elizabeth,  in  great 
anger  as  well  as  grief,  shook,  or  some  say  struck,  the 
dying  woman  in  her  bed,  exclaiming,  "  God  may  forgive 
you,  but  I  never  can ! " 

After  the  death  of  Essex,  the  people  ceased  to  welcome 
their  Queen  as  rapturously  as  before,  for  he  had  been 
the  popular  idol.  She  herself  became  dejected  after  he 
was  beheaded.  She  told  the  Count  de  Beaumont  from 
France,  "  that  she  was  aweary  of  life,"  and  wept  as  she 
talked  of  Essex.  One  of  the  Queen's  household  wrote, 
"  She  sleepeth  not  so  much  by  day  as  she  used,  neither 
taketh  rest  by  night.  Her  delight  is  to  sit  in  the  dark, 
and  sometimes  with  shedding  tears,  to  bewail  Essex." 

In  the  spring  of  1603  the  great  Queen  was  near  the 
end  of  life.  When  Robert  Carey,  the  Earl  of  Monmouth, 
her  kinsman,  came  to  see  her,  during  the  visit  he  says, 
"  She  fetched  not  so  few  as  forty  or  fifty  great  sighs.  I 
was  grieved  at  the  first  to  see  her  in  this  plight ;  for  in 
all  my  lifetime  before  I  never  saw  her  fetch  a  sigh,  but 
when  the  Queen  of  Scots  was  beheaded."  Towards  the 
end  she  said,  "  I  wish  not  to  live  any  longer,  but  desire 
to  die." 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  207 

After  a  lougprayer  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
at  her  bedside,  she  fell  asleep  and  never  woke,  dying 
about  three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  March  24,  1603. 

With  the  death  of  Elizabeth,  Raleigh's  power  came  to 
an  end.  As  Captain  of  the  Guard  he  had  seen  Essex 
die,  and  at  first  stood  near  the  scaffold  hoping  Essex 
would  speak  to  him,  but  as  he  did  not  he  had  retired  to 
the  armory.  Essex  asked  for  him  later,  and  Raleigh 
always  regretted  that  he  was  not  near  to  receive  his 
message  of  peace.  Christopher  Blount,  who  had  at- 
tempted to  kill  Raleigh,  on  the  scaffold  asked  his  for- 
giveness, saying,  "  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  I  thank  God  that 
you  are  present.  I  had  an  infinite  desire  to  speak  with 
yon,  to  ask  your  forgiveness  ere  I  died.  Both  for  the 
wrong  done  you,  and  for  my  particular  ill-intent  to- 
wards you,  I  beseech  you  to  forgive  me  ;  "  and  Raleigh 
answered,  "  I  most  willingly  forgive  you,  and  I  beseech 
God  to  forgive  you,  and  to  give  you  his  divine  comfort." 

James  I.,  the  son  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  now  came 
to  the  throne.  He  had  a  difficult  place  to  fill.  The 
Roman  Catholics  hoped  for  favors  which  they  could 
never  obtain  under  Elizabeth.  The  Protestants  were 
guarding  every  point,  lest  the  Catholics  gain  the  ascend- 
ancy. James,  self-conceited,  fancied  himself  the  peace- 
maker of  Europe.  He  did  intend  to  keep  the  peace, 
which  was  perhaps  the  best  thing  in  his  weak  nature. 

Mr.  Samuel  Rawson  Gardiner,  the  historian,  says  of 
him :  "  James  had  too  great  confidence  in  his  own 
powers,  and  too  little  sympathetic  insight  into  the  views 
of  others,  to  make  a  successful  ruler,  and  his  inability 
to  control  those  whom  he  trusted  with  blind  confidence 
made  his  court  a  centre  of  corruption." 

Fontenay,  a  French  writer,  says  :   "  He  speaks,  eats, 


208  SIR    WALTER  RALEIGH. 

dresses,  and  plays  like  a  boor,  and  he  is  no  better  in  the 
company  of  women.  He  is  never  still  for  a  moment, 
but  walks  perpetually  up  and  down  the  room,  and  his 
gait  is  sprawling  and  awkward  ;  his  voice  is  loud,  and 
his  words  sententious.  He  prefers  hunting  to  all  other 
amusements,  and  will  be  six  hours  together  on  horse- 
back. .  .  .  His  body  is  feeble,  yet  he  is  not  delicate  ; 
in  a  word,  he  is  an  old  young  man.  .  .  .  He  is  prodi- 
giously conceited  and  he  underrates  other  princes.  .  .  . 
He  told  me  that,  whatever  he  seemed,  he  was  aware  of 
everything  of  consequence  that  was  going  on.  He  could 
afford  to  spend  time  hunting,  for  that  when  he  attended 
to  business,  he  could  do  more  in  an  hour  than  others 
could  do  in  a  day." 

James  was  prejudiced  against  Raleigh,  partly  through 
the  unscrupulous  Lord  Henry  Howard,  the  bitter  enemy 
of  Raleigh,  and  Essex  before  him,  and  partly  because 
Sir  Walter  was  an  uncompromising  foe  to  Spain,  while 
James  desired  to  make  peace  with  Spain,  even  planning 
to  marry  his  son  to  the  daughter  of  Philip  III. 

When  Raleigh  came  to  court  to  ask  James  to  continue 
his  commissions  as  Lieutenant  of  Cornwall  and  Warden 
of  the  Stannaries,  the  King  received  him  coldly,  making 
a  coarse  pun  on  his  name,  as  he  said,  "  On  my  soul,  man, 
I  have  heard  but  rawly  of  thee."  He  soon  told  his  sec- 
retary, Sir  Thomas  Lake,  to  prepare  some  permits  for 
Sir  Walter,  and  added,  "  Let  them  be  delivered  speedily, 
that  Raleigh  may  be  gone  again."  Raleigh  was  soon 
deprived  of  his  position  as  Captain  of  the  Guard,  and 
Durham  House  was  restored  to  the  Bishop  of  Durham. 
Raleigh  had  spent  two  thousand  pounds  upon  it. 

The  next  time  he  saw  the  King,  Raleigh  talked  with 
him  about  prosecuting  the  war  with  Spain,  —  offered  to 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  209 

raise  two  thousand  men  at  his  own  expense,  and  to 
invade  Spain  at  their  head.  He  could  not  have  known 
that  the  King  was  always  playing  two  parts,  —  trying 
to  calm  England,  who  liked  the  Scot  none  too  well,  and 
at  the  same  time  kneeling  to  Spain,  whom  most  of  the 
English  hated. 

Raleigh  was  still  at  Court,  and  on  the  morning  of  July 
17,  1603,  was  walking  on  the  terrace  at  Windsor,  waiting 
to  ride  with  the  King,  who  was  about  to  hunt,  when  Sir 
Robert  Cecil,  who  had  made  himself  a  favorite  with 
James,  came  to  Raleigh,  and  said  he  was  wanted  in  the 
Council  Chamber,  to  be  questioned  concerning  some 
matter. 

And  this  was  the  matter.  The  English  Catholics  had 
two  agents,  or  pretended  agents,  two  priests,  William  Wat- 
son and  Francis  Clarke,  who  were  to  labor  with  the  King 
for  increased  toleration  for  their  religion.  While  they 
petitioned  the  King  on  one  hand,  Cecil  was  on  the  other 
saying  to  James,  "  It  would  be  a  horror  to  my  heart  to 
imagine  that  they  that  are  enemies  to  the  gospel  should 
be  held  by  you  worthy  to  be  friends  to  your  fortune."  To 
the  English,  James  talked  of  "  Jesuits,  seminary  priests, 
and  that  rabble ;  "  to  the  Pope,  he  spoke  of  concessions 
and  great  good-will. 

Such  duplicity,  or  lack  of  courage,  in  time  brought  its 
natural  reward.  Thousands  were  angered.  Finally  a  plot 
was  arranged  by  Watson  and  Clarke,  called  "  The  Priests' 
Treason."  Several  joined  with  them :  George  Brooke, 
a  graduate  of  King's  College,  Cambridge,  the  dissolute 
brother  of  Cecil's  wife  ;  Sir  Griffin  Markham,  of  a  prom- 
inent family  but  himself  a  spendthrift ;  Lord  Thomas 
Grey  de  Wilton,  a  young  man  under  thirty,  scholarly,  a 
Protestant,  and  much  beloved ;  and  Anthony  Copley,  third 


210  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH. 

son  of  Sir  Thomas  Copley.  He  was  a  fearless  man,  as 
Topliffe  wrote  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  "  The  most  desperate 
youth  that  liveth.  Copley  did  shoot  a  gentleman  the  last 
summer,  and  killed  an  ox  with  a  musket,  and  in  Horsham 
Church  drew  his  dagger  at  the  parish  priest." 

These  men  had  planned  that  James  I.  should  be  seized 
at  Greenwich  and  carried  to  the  Tower,  where  he  should 
be  asked  for  three  things  :  "  1.  For  their  pardon  ;  2.  For 
toleration  of  their  religion ;  3.  For  assurance  thereof  to 
prefer  Catholics  to  places  of  credit,  as  Watson  to  be 
Lord  Keeper ;  Grey,  Earl  Marshal ;  Brooke,  Lord  Treas- 
urer ;  and  Markham,  Secretary."  The  King  was  to  be 
kept  in  the  Tower  a  year,  till  the  changes  were  accom- 
plished. Grey  was  opposed  to  Papists,  but  wanted  the 
King  to  subscribe  to  "  Articles  "  which  would  limit  his 
power,  and  place  the  government  more  in  the  hands  of 
the  people.  This  plot  was  also  called  "  The  Surprising 
Treason." 

This  plot  was  betrayed  by  John  Gerard,  a  Jesuit,  who 
believed  that  by  submission  to  James  all  Catholic  disa- 
bilities were  soon  to  be  removed  without  force.  He  had 
been  a  Catholic  missionary  to  England,  and  had  been 
imprisoned  in  the  Tower  for  his  ardent  labors,  but  had 
escaped  by  swinging  along  a  rope  over  the  Tower  ditch. 
He  evidently  did  not  understand  James's  character. 

Copley  was  arrested  towards  the  end  of  June,  1G03, 
and  told  of  all  the  others,  who  were  at  once  taken 
into  custody.  It  soon  came  out  that  George  Brooke, 
Grey,  and  others  were  in  another  plot,  with  Lord  Cob- 
ham  (Henry  Brooke),  the  brother  of  George.  He  had 
married  the  widow  of  Henry,  twelfth  Earl  of  Kildare, 
and  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Nottingham.  It  is  said  that, 
though  wealthy,    after  Cobham's  fall   "she  abandoned 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  211 

him,  and  would  not  give  him  the  crumbs  that  fell  from 
her  table." 

Lord  Cobham  was  an  enemy  of  Essex,  and  the  latter 
had  coupled  his  name  with  Raleigh's  when  he  wrote  to  win 
the  favor  of  James  before  the  death  of  Elizabeth.  Cob- 
ham  had  no  liking  for  James,  and  knew  James's  ill- 
feeling  towards  him. 

There  was  for  a  long  time  a  desire  on  the  part  of  many 
that  Lady  Arabella  Stuart  should  come  to  the  throne 
instead  of  James.  She  was  his  first  cousin,  the  daughter 
of  Charles  Stuart,  descended  from  Margaret,  sister  of 
Henry  VIII.  Charles's  brother  had  married  Mary,  Queen 
of  Scots.  Arabella  stood,  therefore,  in  the  same  relation 
to  the  throne  as  did  James.  Elizabeth  had  feared  her, 
and  James  feared  her  even  more,  because  he  was  an 
alien,  while  she  was  born  on  English  soil. 

At  one  time  Cobham  meditated  seriously  how  Arabella 
could  succeed  Elizabeth ;  but,  after  meeting  her,  he  wrote 
to  Cecil,  "  I  resolved  never  to  hazard  my  estate  for  her." 

She  was  shamefully  treated  by  James :  put  in  prison 
in  1609,  on  account  of  a  rumor  that  she  was  to  marry 
somebody,  and  James  feared  a  possible  heir  to  the  throne. 
Feb.  2, 1610,  she  became  engaged  to  William  Seymour, 
descended  from  Mary,  sister  of  Henry  VIII.  They 
were  brought  before  the  council,  and  promised  not  to 
marry  without  the  consent  of  the  King.  Knowing  that 
they  would  never  receive  this,  they  were  privately  mar- 
ried. Seymour  was  arrested  and  put  into  the  Tower. 
Arabella  escaped  in  man's  clothing,  but  was  taken  and 
confined  in  the  Tower  also,  where  she  remained  for  five 
years,  till  her  death,  Sept.  25,  1615. 

But  if  Cobham  had  given  up  the  Arabella  Stuart  pro- 
ject,  he  had    planned    another  with  Charles,   Count  of 


212  SIR    WALTER  RALEIGH. 

Aremberg,  Minister  of  the  Archduke  Albert,  now  sover- 
eign of  the  Spanish  Low  Countries.  This  was  to  help 
on  the  peace  between  Spain  and  England,  by  putting 
"  good  sums  of  money  where  they  would  have  taken 
great  hold,"  as  Lord  Cecil,  Secretary  of  State,  wrote  to 
Sir  Thomas  Parry,  ambassador  in  France. 

Aremberg  was  to  get  five  or  six  hundred  thousand 
crowns  from  Spain  and  a  large  amount  from  France ;  and 
this  was  to  be  used  among  the  discontented,  to  buy  their 
influence  on  the  side  of  peace.  He  offered  Kaleigh  ten 
thousand  crowns  ;  Grey  was  to  have  as  much,  and  others 
in  like  proportion. 

However  degrading  such  a  plan,  it  was  no  uncommon 
thing  in  those  times.  We  find  Count  de  Beaumont 
writing  to  his  King,  Henry  IV.  of  France,  urging  that  he 
be  allowed  to  give  "  pensions  "  and  gifts  to  English  states- 
men. He  writes  to  his  King  :  "  The  Spanish  ambassa- 
dor makes  no  scruple  to  bargain  for  the  treaty  openly, 
offering  pensions  and  money  to  the  grandees  of  this  king- 
dom for  the  purpose  of  promoting  it." 

"The  great  extent,"  says  Mr.  Edwards,  "to  which 
Spanish  bribes  were  accepted  has  long  been  one  of  the 
foulest  scandals  of  a  scandalous  reign.  Evidence  of  the 
corruption  of  some  of  the  statesmen  who  took  a  promi- 
nent part  in  the  prosecutions  of  1C03  is  old  and  trite. 
Kecent  researches  in  the  archives  at  Simancas  have  estab- 
lished, beyond  controversy,  the  fact  that  amongst  those 
who  lived  and  died  as  pensioners  of  Spain  was  the  Lord 
Treasurer,  Salisbury." 

That  such  methods  are  not  entirely  obsolete  in  the 
nineteenth  century,  it  is  only  necessary  to  recall  to  mind 
the  Credit  Mobilier  in  America  and  the  Panama  Canal 
scheme  in  France. 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  213 

Raleigh  and  Cobham  were  intimate  friends,  and  Raleigh 
knew  of  the  visits  between  Aremberg  and  Cobham,  though 
probably  not  the  full  plans.  They  were  both  arrested  on 
a  charge  of  treason,  and  accused  of  attempting  to  put 
Arabella  Stuart  on  the  throne,  and  to  use  the  money  in 
raising  an  army  to  do  away  with  the  "King  and  his 
cubbs  "  (which  language  George  Brooke  at  first  affirmed, 
but  denied  on  the  scaffold).  It  was  asserted,  but  never 
proved,  that  Arabella  was  to  write  separate  letters  to  the 
Archduke  of  Austria,  the  King  of  Spain,  and  the  Duke 
of  Savoy,  promising  if  she  obtained  the  crown  to  estab- 
lish a  firm  peace  between  England  and  Spain,  tolerate 
the  Romanists,  and  be  governed  by  the  three  powers  in 
contracting  marriage. 

The  resulting  trial  was  one  of  the  most  interesting 
ever  held  in  England,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  unfair. 
One  of  the  judges,  Gawdy,  said  afterwards,  on  his  death- 
bed, "The  justice  of  England  has  never  been  so  injured 
and  degraded  as  by  the  condemnation  of  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh ; "  and  this  has  been  the  verdict  of  the  great 
lawyers  in  the  succeeding  generations. 

Cobham  denied  that  he  had  any  such  intent  about 
Arabella ;  and  she,  in  the  great  trial  at  Winchester,  in 
Wolvesey  Castle,  the  ancient  Episcopal  palace,  protested 
through  the  Earl  of  Nottingham,  "  upon  her  salvation, 
that  she  never  dealt  in  any  of  these  things." 

When  Raleigh  was  at  first  called  before  the  council, 
and  was  asked  about  Cobham,  he  cleared  him  of  all, 
as  he  wrote  Cobham  by  his  faithful  servant,  Captain 
Keymis.  He  further  said  to  the  council,  "Whatever 
correspondence  there  was  between  Cobham  and  Arem- 
berg, La  Renzi  [a  merchant  who  was  in  attendance  on 
Count  Aremberg]  might  be  better  able  to  give  account  of 


214  SIR    WALTER  RALEIGH. 

it,  therefore  advised  to  the  calling  upon  him,"  but  added 
that  "he  knew  of  no  intelligence  between  them,  but 
such  as  might  be  warranted."  This  also  he  wrote  to 
Cecil. 

When  Cobham  was  examined  he  acknowledged  that 
he  desired  to  go  to  Spain  to  raise  the  money,  but  had  no 
thought  of  Arabella  Stuart.  It  was  to  be  used  as  "  pen- 
sions," which  was  probably  true,  though  it  was  believed 
by  some  that  he  intended  also  to  use  it  to  help  the 
"Priests'  Treason,"  and  so  get  the  more  liberal  govern- 
ment which  Lord  Grey  desired. 

When,  for  the  purpose  of  entrapping  him,  the  letter 
of  Ealeigh  was  shown  him,  —  altered,  it  is  feared,  to  suit 
the  purpose  of  his  enemies,  —  he  at  once  felt  that  he  had 
been  betrayed  by  Raleigh,  and  accused  the  latter  of  in- 
stigating the  plot,  and  of  being  the  occasion  of  his  whole 
discontent. 

When  they  were  both  in  the  Tower,  Raleigh  wrote  Cob- 
ham  urging  that  he  deny  his  unjust  statement.  Through 
the  suggestion  of  the  servant  of  Raleigh,  Cotterell,  Cob- 
ham  left  his  window  ajar  at  night,  and  the  letter  of 
Raleigh,  tied  round  an  apple,  was  thrown  into  Cobham's 
room.  In  half  an  hour  the  following  letter  of  retraction 
was  written  and  pushed  by  Cobham  under  his  door  and 
was  carried  to  Raleigh :  — 

"  Now  that  the  arraignment  draws  near,  not  knowing 
which  should  be  first,  you  or  I,  to  clear  my  conscience, 
satisfy  the  world,  and  free  myself  from  the  cry  of  your 
blood,  I  protest  upon  my  soul,  and  before  God  and  his 
angels,  I  never  had  conference  with  you  in  any  treason ; 
nor  was  ever  moved  by  you  to  the  things  I  heretofore 
accused  you  of.  And,  for  anything  I  know,  you  are  as 
innocent  and  as  clear  from  any  treasons  against  the  King 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  215 

as  any  subject  living.  .  .  .     And  so  God  deal  with  me 
and  have  mercy  on  my  soul  as  this  is  true." 

Again  he  accused  Raleigh  and  again  he  retracted. 

Raleigh  denied  before  his  accusers,  Nov.  17,  1603, 
every  one  of  these  indictments.  "  1  was  accused  to 
be  a  practiser  with  Spain — I  never  knew  that  my 
Lord  Cobham  meant  to  go  thither.  I  will  ask  no  mercy 
at  the  King's  hands,  if  he  will  affirm  it.  Secondly,  I 
never  knew  of  the  practices  with  Arabella.  Finally, 
I  never  knew  of  my  Lord  Cobham's  practice  with  Arem- 
berg,  nor  of  their  '  surprising  treason.'  "  He  knew  of 
their  visits  to  each  other,  and  had  already  told  them  so. 
He  also  said,  "  Lord  Cobham  offered  me  ten  thousand 
crowns  of  the  money,  for  the  furthering  the  peace 
between  England  and  Spain  ;  and  he  said  that  I  should 
have  it  within  three  days.  I  told  him,  'When  I  see 
the  money,  I  will  make  you  an  answer.'  For  I  thought 
it  one  of  his  ordinary  idle  conceits,  and  therefore 
made  no  account  of  it."  If  Cobham  and  Aremberg 
had  talked  of  money  for  an  army,  which  is  doubtfu1, 
Raleigh  evidently  knew  nothing  of  it.  He  asked  to 
have  Cobham  brought  face  to  face  before  him,  but  this 
was  denied  him. 

The  Attorney-General,  Sir  Edward  Coke,  was  brutal 
in  his  treatment.  He  said  to  Raleigh,  "Thou  art  a 
monster;  thou  hast  an  English  face,  but  a  Spanish 
heart.  ...  I  will  prove  thee  the  rankest  traitor  in  all 
England.  .  .  .  Thou  hast  a  Spanish  heart,  and  thyself 
art  a  spider  of  hell." 

The  whole  trial  was  a  barbaric  farce.  Raleigh  pleaded 
eloquently,  as  it  was  for  his  life,  but  he  was  condemned 
before  the  trial. 

Lord   Chief   justice   Popham,    in    giving   sentence   of 


216  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH. 

death,  was  as  brutal  as  Coke,  and  both  were  hissed  by 
the  people. 

The  following  was  the  sentence,  brutality,  or  even 
capital  punishment,  doing  as  little  good  to  society  in 
those  days  as  it  ever  has  afterwards  :  "  Since  you  have 
been  found  guilty  of  these  horrible  treasons,  the  judg- 
ment of  this  court  is,  that  you  shall  be  led  from  hence 
to  the  place  whence  you  came,  there  to  remain  until  the 
day  of  execution ;  and  from  thence  you  shall  be  drawn 
upon  a  hurdle  through  the  open  streets  to  the  place  of 
execution,  there  to  be  hanged  and  cut  down  alive ;  and 
your  body  shall  be  opened,  your  heart  and  bowels 
plucked  out,  and  your  private  members  cut  off,  and 
thrown  into  the  fire  before  your  eyes ;  then  your  head 
to  be  stricken  off  from  your  body,  and  your  body  shall 
be  divided  into  four  quarters,  to  be  disposed  of  at  the 
King's  pleasure  ;  and  God  have  mercy  upon  your  soul ! " 

It  is  said  that  some  of  the  jury  were  so  "  touched 
in  conscience  as  to  demand  of  Ealeigh  pardon  on  their 
knees." 

After  the  sentence,  Raleigh  asked  the  Commissioners  to 
request  the  King  that  "  Cobham  might  die  first,"  for  he 
said,  "  Cobham  is  a  false  and  cowardly  accuser.  He  can 
face  neither  me  nor  death,  without  acknowledging  his 
falsehood."  He  also  asked  that  his  death  "  be  honorable 
and  not  ignominious."  The  two  persons  who  brought  the 
news  of  the  sentence  to  James  were  Roger  Ashton  and 
a  Scotchman.  "  One,"  says  Sir  Dudley  Carleton,  after- 
wards Viscount  Dorchester,  "affirmed  that  never  any 
man  spoke  so  well  in  times  past,  nor  would  do  in  the 
world  to  come  ;  and  the  other  said,  that  whereas  when 
he  saw  him  first,  he  was  so  led  by  the  common  hatred, 
that  he  would  have  gone  a  hundred  miles  to  have  seen 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGU.  217 

him  hanged ;  he  would,  ere  he  parted,  have  gone  a  thou- 
sand to  have  saved  his  life." 

Nov.  29,  Watson  and  Clarke,  the  priests,  were  exe- 
cuted. "  They  were  bloodily  handled,"  says  Carleton, 
"  for  they  were  both  cut  down  alive  ;  and  Clarke,  to 
whom  more  favor  was  intended,  had  the  worse  luck  ;  for 
he  both  strove  to  help  himself,  and  spoke  after  he  was 
cut  down.  They  died  boldly  both.  .  .  .  Their  quarters 
were  set  on  Winchester  gates,  and  their  heads  on  the 
first  tower  of  the  castle."  George  Brooke  was  beheaded 
Dec.  6,  saying  at  the  last,  "  There  is  somewhat  yet  hid- 
den, which  will  one  day  appear  for  my  justification." 

Markham,  Grey,  and  Cobham  were  to  be  beheaded  Dec. 
10,  and  Raleigh,  Dec.  13,  as  James  could  not  bring  him- 
self to  destroy  the  man  against  whom  nothing  was 
proved  till  after  Cobham  had  faced  death. 

Raleigh  had  before  this,  about  July  20,  after  the  sen- 
tence, attempted  to  commit  suicide,  —  not  that  he  feared 
death,  but  he  could  not  bear  to  have  his  enemies  triumph 
over  him.  Just  before  he  wrote  his  wife  a  touching 
letter:  — 

"  That  I  can  live  never  to  see  thee  and  my  child  more  ! 
—  I  cannot.  .  .  .  That  I  can  live  to  think  how  you  are 
both  left  a  spoil  to  my  enemies,  and  that  my  name  shall 
be  a  dishonor  to  my  child  !  —  I  cannot  .  .  .  For  my- 
self, I  am  left  of  all  men  that  have  done  good  to  many. 
All  my  good  turns  forgotten  ;  ....  all  my  services,  haz- 
ards, and  expenses  for  my  country  —  plantings,  discov- 
eries, fights,  councils,  and  whatsoever  else  —  malice  hath 
now  covered  over.  I  am  now  made  an  enemy  and  traitor 
by  the  word  of  an  unworthy  man.  .  .  .  Woe,  woe,  woe 
be  unto  him  by  whose  falsehood  we  are  lost !  He  hath 
leparated   us  asunder.     He  hath  slain  my  honor,  my  for- 


218  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH. 

tune.  He  hath  robbed  thee  of  thy  husband,  thy  child 
of  his  father,  and  me  of  you  both.  0  God  !  thou  dost 
know  my  wrongs  !  .  .  . 

"I  bless  my  poor  child,  and  let  him  know  his  father 
was  no  traitor.  Be  bold  of  my  innocence,  for  God,  to 
whom  I  offer  life  and  soul,  knows  it." 

He  recovered  from  his  wound ;  and  when  the  time 
for  execution  came,  in  December,  again  he  wrote  her  in 
the  Tower  a  farewell  letter  :  — 

"  My  love  I  send  you  that  you  may  keep  it  when  I  am 
dead,  and  my  council,  that  you  may  remember  it  when 
I  am  no  more.  .  .  .  And  seeing  it  is  not  the  will  of 
God  that  ever  I  shall  see  you  in  this  life,  bear  my  de- 
struction gently  and  with  a  heart  like  yourself. 

"  First,  I  send  you  all  the  thanks  my  heart  can  con- 
ceive, or  my  pen  express,  for  your  many  troubles  and 
cares  taken  for  me  [she  had  pleaded  day  and  night  for 
his  release]  which,  though  they  had  not  taken  effect  as 
you  wished,  yet  my  debt  is  to  you  nevertheless  ;  but 
pay  it  I  never  shall  in  this  world. 

"  Secondly,  I  beseech  you,  for  the  love  you  bear  me 
living,  that  you  do  not  hide  yourself  many  days,  but  by 
your  travel  seek  to  help  your  miserable  fortunes,  and 
the  right  of  your  poor  child.  Your  mourning  cannot 
avail  me  that  am  but  dust.  .  .  . 

"Remember  your  poor  child  for  his  father's  sake,  that 
comforted  you  and  loved  you  in  his  happiest  times. 
Get  those  letters  (if  it  be  possible)  which  I  wrote  to 
the  lords,  wherein  I  sued  for  my  life  ;  but  God  knoweth 
that  it  was  for  you  and  yours  that  I  desired  it,  but  it  is 
true  that  I  disdain  myself  for  begging  it.  And  know  it, 
dear  wife,  that  your  son  is  the  child  of  a  true  man.  .  .  . 

"  I  cannot  write  much.     God  knows  how  hardly  I  stole 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  219 

this  time,  when  all  sleep.  .  .  .  My  true  wife,  farewell. 
Bless  my  poor  boy  ;  pray  for  me.  My  true  God  hold 
you  both  in  His  arms. 

"  Written-  with  the  dying  hand  of  sometime  thy  hus- 
band, but  now  (alas  !)  overthrown. 

"  Yours  that  was,  but  now  not  my  own, 

"W.   Raleigh." 

The  time  drew  near  for  execution.  Sir  Griffin  Mark- 
ham  was  first  brought  to  the  scaffold  about  ten  o'clock 
on  the  morning  of  Dec.  10.  A  napkin  was  offered  him 
to  cover  his  face,  but  he  refused,  saying,  "I  can  look 
upon  death  without  blushing."  Just  as  he  had  made 
himself  ready  for  the  axe,  James  sent  his  page,  John 
Gibb,  with  a  reprieve  for  two  hours.  He  was  led  away 
in  amazement,  and  Lord  Grey  was  brought  to  the  scaffold. 

Grey  knelt  and  prayed  in  the  rain,  and  then  said  he 
had  never  plotted  treason.  He  urged  the  King  not  to 
let  the  brand  of  traitor  rest  on  his  name  for  the  sake  of 
the  "unstained  blood  which  we  have  spilled  at  the  head 
of  your  ancestors'  armies,  and  for  that  loyalty  of  four 
hundred  years,  during  which  the  House  of  Wilton  was 
untouched."  A  reprieve  also  came  for  him  at  the  last 
moment. 

Lord  Cobham  came  next ;  and  though  he  had  shown 
fear  and  trembling  at  the  trial,  he  was  prepared  to  meet 
death  calmly.  He  again  accused  Raleigh.  The  sheriff 
now  stayed  the  execution,  and  called  back  Markhara  and 
Grey,  and  told  them  that  the  King  had  decided  to  spare 
their  lives.  The  people  shouted  their  applause,  and  the 
prisoners  were  removed  to  the  Tower.  Raleigh,  too,  went 
back  to  prison. 

Lord  Grey  died  in  the  Tower,  July  9,  1614,  just  as 
he  was  entering  the  twelfth  year  of  his  imprisonment. 


220  SIR    WALTER  RALEIGH. 

Lord  Cobham  died  poor  and  miserable,  Jan.  24,  1G19. 
He  had  been  released  from  the  Tower  for  a  short  time 
on  account  of  his  health,  and  died  of  paralysis  after  a 
year's  helplessness.  Markham  was  released  and  went  to 
Brussels,  where  he  was  so  poor  that  "  he  was  constrained 
to  pluck  out  the  inlaid  silver  of  the  hilts  of  his  sword  to 
buy  flour  to  make  a  hasty-pudding  for  his  dinner,"  says 
Oldys  in  his  notes.  He  afterwards  found  service  under 
the  Archduke  Albert. 

For  more  than  twelve  long  years  Raleigh  lived  in  the 
Tower,  and  found  happiness  as  best  he  could  in  books. 
For  a  man  with  his  active  life  the  confinement  must . 
have  been  well-nigh  unbearable.  At  first  he  gave  much 
time  to  the  study  of  chemistry  and  experiments  in  that 
science.  He  then  began  his  great  and  learned  "His- 
tory of  the  World."  He  was  confined  in  what  is  now  the 
Bloody  Tower,  above  the  principal  gate  to  the  Inner 
Ward.  For  a  time  Lady  Raleigh  and  her  son  Walter 
were  permitted  to  remain  in  the  Tower,  but  when  the 
plague  broke  out  in  1604  they  were  obliged  to  go  away 
for  safety. 

Lord  Cecil  tried  in  vain  to  keep  some  of  Sir  Walter's 
property  from  confiscation.  There  were  a  dozen  persons 
who  eagerly  tried  to  get  possession  of  the  beautiful 
Sherborne  estates.  Lady  Raleigh  went  to  court  in  1608, 
holding  her  boys  by  the  hand  —  Walter  then  fourteen,  and 
little  Carew,  four,  born  in  the  Tower  after  his  father  was 
in  prison,  —  and  on  her  knees  begged  Sherborne  for  her 
children  ;  but  James  brusquely  replied,  "I  maun  hae  the 
lond ;  I  maun  hae  it  for  Carr,"  who  was  a  young  favor- 
ite of  the  King,  becoming  afterwards  Earl  of  Somerset. 

The  King  finally  purchased  Sherborne  for  his  son, 
Prince  Henry.     Lady  Raleigh  was  promised  eight  thou- 


Silt    WALTER   RALEIGn.  221 

sand  pounds  for  her  life  interest  in  Sherborne  ;  but  the 
interest  was  irregularly  paid,  and  later  the  principal  was 
mostly  lost  in  the  expedition  to  Guiana.  She  had  an 
annuity  of  four  hundred  pounds  a  year,  which  was  fre- 
quently unpaid. 

Raleigh's  health  failed,  and  various  efforts  were  made 
for  his  release,  but  none  succeeded.  Finally  there  was  a 
rift  in  the  cloud.  Prince  Henry,  the  broad-minded  son 
of  a  narrow-minded  father,  partly  through  pity  and 
partly  from  his  appreciation  of  a  fine  intellect,  had  be- 
come fond  of  the  imprisoned  statesman.  He  was,  in 
1610,  sixteen  years  old,  while  Raleigh  was  fifty-eight. 
He  often  visited  Raleigh,  and  conferred  with  him  about 
politics,  ship-building,  and  foreign  policy.  He  consulted 
him  about  his  marriage  with  a  Princess  of  Savoy,  and 
would  not  consent  to  it  because  Raleigh  thought  it 
unwise,  as  "  the  Dukes  of  Savoy  were  of  the  blood  of 
Spain,  and  to  Spain  those  dukes  have  always  been  ser- 
vants," said  Raleigh.  It  was  generally  believed  that 
Prince  Henry  had  received  the  Sherborne  estates  only 
that  he  might  bestow  them  upon  his  friend.  He  said, 
"No  man  but  my  father  would  keep  such  a  bird  in  a  cage." 
At  the  coming  Christmas,  1612,  the  prince  had  obtained 
with  great  difficulty  from  his  father  a  promise  of  libera- 
tion for  Raleigh.  But  six  weeks  before  this,  to  the  dis- 
may and  sadness  of  the  whole  of  England,  Nov.  6,  the 
noble  youth  died  of  typhoid-fever,  at  the  age  of  eighteen. 
James  I.  gladly  forgot  his  promise  to  his  dead  boy,  and 
the  prison  doors  closed  forever  on  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 
No,  they  opened  once  more,  but  the  path  led  to  the  block. 

All  these  years  the  conditions  of  Raleigh's  prison  life 
grew  harder.  His  garden  was  taken  away  from  him, 
where  he  had  enjoyed  the  study  of  botany,  his  wife  was 


222  SIR    WALE  11   RALEIGH. 

seldom  allowed  to  see  him,  and  his  health  yearly  grew 
poorer.  Often  he  was  for  two  hours,  he  wrote  Cecil, 
now  become  Earl  of  Salisbury,  "  without  feeling  or  motion 
of  my  hand  and  whole  arm,"  and,  "  every  second  or 
third  night  in  danger  either  of  sudden  death,  or  of  the 
loss  of  my  limbs  or  sense  ; "  but  Salisbury  was  no  longer 
a  friend,  and  James  I.  was  only  hoping  "  that  man 
Raleigh  will  die  before  I  do."  The  wife  of  James,  Anne 
of  Denmark,  was  always  the  friend  of  Raleigh,  and  tried 
to  obtain  his  release ;  but  she  had  no  influence  with 
James,  partly  because  she  had  become  a  Romanist,  and 
partly  because  he  became  tired  of  any  affection  after  a 
time. 

It  is  thought  that  Raleigh  began  the  "History  of 
the  World"  in  1607,  and  seven  years  after,  in  1614,  he 
gave  the  first  volume  of  1,354  closely  printed  pages  to 
the  public.  This  brought  the  world's  history  only  down 
to  the  conquest  of  Macedon  by  Rome.  It  was  a  marvel 
of  diligence,  showing  that  Raleigh  could  "  toil  terribly," 
and  would  have  filled,  says  Mr.  Gosse,  "  thirty -five  such 
volumes  as  are  devised  for  an  ordinary  modern  novel." 

The  next  year,  1615,  James  commanded  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  book,  because  it  was  "  too  saucy  in  censuring 
the  acts  of  kings."  Ninias,  son  of  Queen  Semiramis, 
who  "  had  changed  nature  and  condition  with  his  mother, 
proved  no  less  feminine  than  she  was  masculine  ; "  and 
James  read  between  the  lines,  as  he  thought,  or  probably 
some  jealous  person  thought  for  him,  that  this  was  a 
true  picture  of  James  I.  and  his  mother,  Mary,  Queen  of 
Scots. 

Raleigh  then  wrote  "  The  Prerogative  of  Parliament," 
an  argument  in  favor  of  the  King  against  his  evil  advis- 
ers;  but  anything  from  Raleigh's  hand  was  unwelcome, 


SIR    WALER   RALEIGH.  223 

and  he  was  forbidden  to  publish  it.  Ten  years  after  his 
death  it  appeared.  His  "  Observations  on  Trade  and 
Commerce,"  in  favor  of  free  trade,  was  suppressed 
because  James  was  a  protectionist. 

One  can  scarcely  imagine  the  wearisomeness  of  the 
years  that  saw  manuscript  after  manuscript  piled  up,  from 
a  fertile  and  brilliant  mind,  with  no  power  to  bring 
them  before  a  world  which  it  strove  to  influence. 

One  of  the  best  known  of  Sir  Walter's  several  works 
is  his  "  Instructions  to  his  Son  and  to  Posterity."  The 
first  edition  which  Oldys  saw  was  published  fourteen 
years  after  Raleigh's  death,  1632.  It  went  through  sev- 
eral editions.  In  the  chapter  on  "  Choice  of  Friends," 
he  says :  "  If  thy  friends  be  of  better  quality  than  thy- 
self, thou  inayst  be  sure  of  two  things :  the  first,  that 
they  will  be  more  careful  to  keep  thy  counsel,  because 
they  have  more  to  lose  than  thou  hast ;  the  second,  they 
will  esteem  thee  for  thyself,  and  not  for  that  which  thou 
dost  possess.  But  if  thou  be  subject  to  any  great  van- 
ity or  ill  (from  which  I  hope  God  will  bless  thee),  then 
therein  trust  no  man ;  for  every  man's  folly  ought  to  be 
his  greatest  secret.  .  .  . 

"  The  next  and  greatest  care  ought  to  be  in  the  choice 
of  a  wife.  And  the  only  danger  therein  is  beauty,  by 
which  all  men  in  all  ages,  wise  and  foolish,  have  been 
betrayed.  ...  If  thou  marry  for  beauty,  thou  bindest 
thyself  all  thy  life  for  that  which  perchance  will  never 
last  nor  please  thee  one  year;  and  when  thou  hast  it,  it 
will  be  to  thee  of  no  price  at  all."  Raleigh  thought  the 
best  time  for  his  son  to  marry  was  "toward  thirty.  And 
though  thou  canst  not  forbear  to  love,  yet  forbear  to 
link ;  after  awhile  thou  shalt  find  an  alteration  in  thy- 
self, and  see  another  far  more   pleasing  than  the  first, 


224  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH. 

second,  or  third  love."  About  talking,  Sir  Walter  says  : 
"  He  that  cannot  refrain  from  much  speaking  is  like  a 
city  without  walls,  and  less  pains  in  the  world  a  man 
cannot  take  than  to  hold  his  tongue ;  therefore  if  thou 
observest  this  rule  in  all  assemblies,  thou  shalt  seldom 
err.  Restrain  thy  choler,  hearken  much,  and  speak  lit- 
tle ;  for  the  tongue  is  the  instrument  of  the  greatest 
good  and  greatest  evil  that  is  done  in  the  world.  .  .  . 
Never  spend  anything  before  thou  have  it :  for  borrow- 
ing is  the  canker  and  death  of  every  man's  estate."  Con- 
cerning wine-drinking,  Sir  Walter  admonishes  his  son : 
"  Take  especial  care  that  thou  delight  not  in  wine,  for 
there  never  was  any  man  that  came  to  honor  or  prefer- 
ment that  loved  it ;  for  it  transformeth  a  man  into  a 
beast,  decayeth  health,  poisoneth  the  breath,  destroyeth 
natural  heat,  bringeth  a  man's  stomach  to  an  artificial  heat, 
deformeth  the  face,  rotteth  the  teeth,  and,  to  conclude, 
maketh  a  man  contemptible,  soon  old,  and  despised  of 
all  wise  and  worthy  men,  hated  in  thy  servants,  in  thy- 
self and  companions ;  for  it  is  a  bewitching  and  infec- 
tious vice.  .  .  . 

"  Whosoever  loveth  wine  shall  not  be  trusted  of  any 
man,  for  he  cannot  keep  a  secret.  Wine  maketh  man 
not  only  a  beast,  but  a  madman;  and  if  thou  love  it,  thy 
own  wife,  thy  children,  and  thy  friends  will  despise 
thee." 

Men  in  James's  cabinet  had  died  and  others  had  taken 
their  places.  Raleigh  had  never  lost  sight  of  Guiana, 
its  gold  mines  yet  to  be  found,  and  its  shores  to  be  col- 
onized for  his  beloved  England. 

At  last  he  got  the  ear  of  Sir  George  Villiers,  Duke  of 
Buckingham,  the  favorite  at  that  time,  and  Secretary  Sir 
Ralph  Winwood.     Mr.  Edwards  says  Raleigh  gave  two 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  225 

individuals  fifteen  hundred  pounds,  —  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  apiece,  —  a  large  sum  in  our  money, —  to  in- 
fluence the  proper  persons  ;  besides  he  promised  much 
gold  from  Guiana,  if  he  were  only  permitted  to  go  there 
and  obtain  it. 

James  could  never  say  "  no "  to  the  favorites  then  in 
power  ;  so  that  Raleigh,  at  their  solicitations,  was  finally 
released  Jan.  30,  1G16,  —  he  had  been  in  the  Tower  for 
almost  thirteen  years,  —  that  he  might,  under  a  keeper, 
live  in  his  own  house,  and  prepare  for  a  new  expedition 
to  Guiana. 

For  fourteen  months,  though  much  broken  in  health, 
he  was  busy  with  his  pet  scheme.  His  all  was  staked 
upon  it.  Lady  Raleigh  sold  some  land  which  she  owned 
and  gave  her  husband  twenty-five  hundred  pounds. 
The  eight  thousand  pounds  from  the  Sherborne  estate 
were  called  in.  Five  thousand  pounds  were  borrowed, 
and  Raleigh's  friends  furnished  fifteen  thousand  more. 

He  built  one  large  ship  and  called  it  the  Destiny  —  a 
fitting  name.  He  collected  other  vessels  and  furnished 
them  with  ordnance.  Meantime  Spain,  which  knew 
Raleigh's  hatred,  was  closely  watching  the  expedition. 
The  Spanish  ambassador,  Gondomar,  had  James  well 
under  his  thumb.  He  flattered  him,  and  wrote  him  in 
gratitude,  "  that  a  Spaniard  should  have  been  and  should 
still  be  a  councillor,  not  merely  in  your  Majesty's  Privy 
Council,  but  in  your  private  Closet  itself,  doth  not  only 
exceed  all  possible  merit  of  mine,  but  also  exceeds 
all  the  services  that  I  can  possibly  have  been  able  to 
render  to  your  Majesty."  Meantime  he  wrote  to  his 
friends  how  inordinately  vain  and  egotistical  was  the 
king  of  England  ! 

Gondomar  hated  Raleigh.      He  feared  that  Raleigh 


226  Sill    WALTER   RALEIGH. 

would  capture  a  plate-fleet  if  opportunity  offered,  and  he 
was  utterly  opposed  to  his  visiting  Guiana  at  all,  as  the 
Spaniards  were  already  there.  He  finally  persuaded 
James  to  give  him  a  pledge  that  no  harm  should  be 
done  to  the  Spaniards  in  Guiana,  or  Raleigh's  life  should 
pay  the  penalty.  James  allowed  Gondomar  to  forward 
to  Madrid  the  proposed  route  of  the  Destiny  and  other 
private  matters. 

James  must  have  known  that  in  all  human  probability 
the  Spaniards  would  meet  and  contest  the  claim  of  the 
English  to  even  land  in  the  country,  saying  nothing  of 
taking  away  their  gold;  but  he  loved  money  so  well  that 
a  gold  mine  would  have  enabled  him  to  be  very  inde- 
pendent with  "our  dear  brother  the  King  of  Spain,"  as 
he  called  him.  That  Raleigh  did  not  return  with  gold 
probably  sealed  his  fate. 

James  at  the  same  time  kept  his  friendship  with  his 
"dear  brother,"  as  Raleigh  says,  by  sending  word  to 
him  "  the  very  river  by  which  I  was  to  enter,  to  name 
my  ships,  number,  men,  and  my  artillery ; "  and  Philip 
III.  at  once  wrote  letters  to  all  parts  of  the  Indies 
and  to  Guiana,  to  prepare  for  Raleigh.  Duplicity  could 
not  go  much  farther  than  it  went  in  James  I.  But  he 
had  a  marriage  in  mind  of  his  son  Charles  with  the 
infanta  of  Spain :  "  You  must  demand  with  her,"  said 
James  to  his  agents,  "two  million  crowns,  and  you  are 
not  to  descend  lower  than  so  many  crowns  as  may  make 
the  sum  of  five  hundred  thousand  pounds  besides  the 
jewels."  The  marriage  was  broken  off  by  Spain,  and 
Charles  married  Henrietta  Maria,  daughter  of  Henry  IV. 
of  France. 

The  fleet  of  seven  vessels  sailed  for  Guiana  at  the 
beginning  of  April,  1617  ;  young  Walter  Raleigh,  the  son 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  227 

of  Sir  Walter,  going  as  captain  of  the  Destiny.  Other 
ships  were  added  at  Plymouth.  Storms  very  soon  scat- 
tered the  vessels.  One  was  lost,  and  several  were  forced 
to  take  refuge  in  Falmouth  harbor  for  a  time.  Later  on 
in  the  journey  a  sickness,  like  a  plague,  broke  out,  and 
many  of  the  officers,  as  well  as  sailors,  died.  Raleigh 
himself  came  very  near  death  from  a  fever.  On  Nov. 
14  the  fleet  anchored  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cayenne  River 
on  the  eastern  coast  of  South  America. 

The  Indians  remembered  Raleigh's  visit  twenty  years 
before.     He  wrote  Lady  Raleigh,  Nov.  14  :  — 

"  Sweet  Heart,  —  I  can  yet  write  unto  you  with  but 
a  weak  hand.  .  .  .  To  tell  you  that  I  might  be  here 
king  of  the  Indians  were  a  vanity  ;  but  my  name  hath 
still  lived  among  them.  Here  they  feed  me  with  fresh 
meat  and  all  that  the  country  yields  :  all  offer  to  obey 
me.     Commend  me  to  poor  Carew,  my  son." 

Raleigh's  own  health  preventing  his  going  in  person, 
he  sent  Captain  Keymis,  with  five  hundred  men  in  five 
smaller  ships,  up  the  Orinoco  River  to  search  for  the 
mine.  They  were  given  instructions  to  do  their  best 
to  reach  the  mine  without  conflict  with  the  Spaniards. 
"When  they  returned  they  would  find  him  dead  or 
alive.  If  you  find  not  my  ships,  you  shall  find  their 
ashes.  For  I  will  fire,  with  the  galleons,  if  it  come  to 
extremity ;  but  run  will  I  never." 

The  ascent  of  the  Orinoco  took  twenty-three  days. 
Despatches  from  Madrid,  through  Gondomar,  had  already 
been  sent  concerning  their  coming.  The  Spaniards  fired 
first  upon  them  as  they  attempted  to  land  on  the  bank 
of  the  river,  some  distance  from  the  supposed  mine. 
The  English  returned  the  fire ;  and  young  Raleigh,  only 
twenty-three,    was    killed    at    the    head    of    his    men. 


228  SIR    WALTER   R  A  LEW  IT. 

"Wounded  by  a  musket-shot,  he  pressed  on,  bleeding 
and  using  his  sword,  when  he  was  felled  to  the  ground 
by  the  but-end  of  a  musket  in  the  hands  of  a  Spaniard. 
His  last  words  were :  "  Go  on  !  May  the  Lord  have 
mercy  upon  me,  and  prosper  your  enterprise  ! " 

The  Spaniards  were  driven  back  into  their  town  of 
San  Thome,  built  about  twenty  miles  from  its  site 
twenty  years  before,  when  Raleigh  took  Berrio,  the 
Spanish  governor,  prisoner.  The  Spaniards  were  de- 
feated, and  several  houses  were  burned.  Young  Raleigh 
was  buried  in  the  little  church  of  San  Thome,  far  away 
from  home  and  friends. 

Young  Raleigh  was  a  brave  youth,  the  idol  of  both 
parents.  He  had  been  made  to  suffer  for  his  father's 
downfall.  He  was  engaged  to  an  heir  of  Sir  Robert 
Basset,  descended  from  King  Edward  IV.  This  girl 
was  a  ward  of  Raleigh,  who  managed  her  estate  of 
three  thousand  pounds  a  year  —  about  fifteen  thousand 
of  our  money.  After  Sir  Walter's  disgrace  she  was 
taken  away  from  the  son  and  married  Henry  Howard, 
the  son  of  Lord  Treasurer  Suffolk.  He  died  suddenly 
at  table,  and  she  afterwards  married  William  Cavendish. 
Duke  of  Newcastle.  "  He  would  never  have  wedded 
her,"  says  an  old  writer,  "  if  young  "Walter  Raleigh  had 
been  alive,  conceiving  her,  before  God,  to  be  his  wife, 
For  they  were  married  as  much  as  children  could  be." 

Captain  Keymis  then  pushed  on  towards  the  mine, 
but  the  Spaniards  fired  upon  him  from  the  woods, 
several  men  were  killed,  and,  his  force  becoming  dis- 
heartened, with  the  young  Raleigh  dead  and  the  admiral 
Sir  Walter,  likely  to  die,  Keymis  gave  up  the  search  for 
the  mine,  and  reluctantly  returned  to  the  ships. 

The  meeting  between  Raleigh  and  Keymis,  with  the 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGU.  229 

news  of  the  death  of  his  son,  was  a  sad  one.  Raleigh 
wrote  his  wife  :  "  God  knows  I  never  knew  what  sorrow 
meant  till  now.  ...  I  shall  sorrow  the  less  because  I 
have  not  long  to  sorrow,  because  not  long  to  live." 

When  Keyrais  told  the  story  of  the  failure  to  reach 
the  mine,  Sir  Walter,  in  bitterness  of  soul,  replied, 
"that  Key  mis  had  undone  him,  and  that  his  credit  was 
lost  forever."  Sir  Walter  knew  only  too  well  that  gold 
alone  would  satisf\r  King  James. 

Raleigh  blamed  the  captain  so  much  that  the  latter 
was  greatly  cast  down.  Afterwards  he  came  to  Raleigh, 
saying  that  he  had  written  an  excuse  to  the  Earl  of 
Arundel,  and  begged  Raleigh  to  allow  of  his  apology. 
The  latter  refused,  whereupon  Keymis  replied,  "  I  know 
not,  then,  sir,  what  course  to  take,"  and  went  to  his 
cabin,  where  he  at  once  killed  himself  by  a  pistol  and 
a  knife. 

Raleigh  now  determined  to  go  in  search  of  the  mine 
himself,  bnt  his  men  mutinied  and  refused  to  go.  On 
the  journey  homeward  they  were  scattered  again  by 
severe  storms. 

When  the  Destiny,  Sir  Walter's  ship,  arrived  in  Plym- 
outh, Lady  Raleigh  hastened  to  meet  her  heart-broken 
husband.  They  started  towards  London  ;  and  when  they 
had  gone  about  twenty  miles  they  were  met  by  Sir 
Lewis  Stukeley,  a  kinsman  of  Sir  Walter's,  who  de- 
clared that  he  had  come  to  arrest  him  and  his  ships, 
and  they  all  returned  to  Plymouth.  Captain  King,  a 
faithful  servant  of  Raleigh,  begged  him  to  escape  to 
Paris,  and,  overpersuaded,  a  bark  was  engaged  and 
Raleigh  entered  it,  but  when  a  little  way  out  he  deter- 
mined to  return  and  take  the  consequences. 

Meantime  Gondomar,  hearing  of  the  San  Thome  affair, 


230  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH. 

hastened  to  the  King,  but  was  told  that  he  was  engaged. 
He  sent  a  message  that  he  might  be  allowed  only  one 
word,  and,  permission  being  granted,  rushed  into  the 
Audience  Chamber,  and  cried  out,  "  Piratas  !  Piratas ! 
Piratas  !  " 

Raleigh  stated  the  case  of  "Piracy"  well,  when  he 
wrote  his  "Apology"  to  be  laid  before  the  King  and  the 
country.  "  If  it  be  now  thought  to  be  a  breach  of  peace,  th  i  \ 
taking  and  burning  of  a  Spanish  town  in  the  country,  if 
the  country  be  the  King  of  Spain's,  it  had  been  no  less  a 
breach  of  peace  to  have  wrought  any  mine  of  his,  and  to 
have  robbed  him  of  his  gold.  If  the  country  be  the 
King's,  I  have  not  offended;  if  it  be  not  the  King's,  I 
must  have  perished  if  I  had  but  taken  gold  out  of  the 
mines  there."  James  I.  allowed  him  to  go  to  Guiana, 
and  now  James  was  to  punish  him  for  going. 

Raleigh  arrived  in  London  Aug.  7.  He  now  bribed 
Stukeley  and  a  French  physician  who  was  with  him  to 
help  him  to  escape  to  France.  They  accepted  the  bribe, 
rowed  out  towards  the  French  ship,  and  then  told  him 
that  they  had  betrayed  him.  Stukeley  was  always  called 
Sir  Judas  Stukeley  after  this.  When  Stukeley  com- 
plained to  the  King  that  some  one  spoke  ill  of  him, 
James  replied,  "  Were  I  disposed  to  hang  every  man  that 
speaks  ill  of  thee,  there  would  not  be  trees  enough  in 
all  my  kingdom  to  hang  them  on."  Later  he  fled  the 
country  for  stealing,  or  clipping  coin.  He  died  a  maniac 
in  1620,  on  the  lonely  Isle  of  Lundy. 

Raleigh  passed  through  the  form  of  an  examination 
(James  having  proclaimed  "an  horrible  invasion  of  the 
town  of  San  Thome,"  .  .  .  and  "  the  malicious  breaking 
of  the  peace  which  hath  been  so  happily  established  ")  ; 
but  Philip  III.,  through  Gondomar,  had  already  demanded 
his  death. 


SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH.  231 

Raleigh  again  entered  the  Tower  Aug.  10,  1718.  On 
the  28th  of  October,  at  eight  in  the  morning,  he  was 
brought  hastily  to  Westminster,  being  commanded  to  rise 
from  his  bed,  where  he  was  ill  with  the  ague.  A  servant 
reminded  him  that  the  combing  of  his  hair  had  been  for- 
gotten. "Let  them  kem  it  that  are  to  have  it,"  said 
Raleigh  with  a  smile. 

At  the  hearing  at  Westminster  he  was  told  by  Francis 
Bacon,  who  was  at  enmity  with  him,  that  he  was  to  be 
executed  on  the  old  charge  of  treason  in  1603.  (Bacon 
three  years  later  was  impeached  for  bribery  and  fined 
forty  thousand  pounds,  besides  losing  his  office.) 

Raleigh  begged  for  a  little  delay,  to  finish  some  writ- 
ing; but  the  King  had  ordered  that  all  things  be  done 
quickl}',  and  had  gone  away  lest  he  be  besought  for  par- 
don. Much  of  this  time,  says  Edwards,  when  he  was  not 
hunting  or  horse-racing,  James  was  writing  "Meditations 
on  the  Lord's  Prayer ! " 

Later  in  the  day,  on  this  Thursday,  the  28th,  Lady 
Raleigh  heard  of  the  trial,  and  hastened  to  her  husband. 
They  talked  together  till  midnight,  he  calming  her  heart- 
break with  his  cheerfulness  and  resolution.  He  told  her 
he  could  not  trust  himself  to  speak  of  their  dear  little 
Carew.  Her  last  words  to  him  were  that  she  had  obtained 
permission  to  have  his  precious  body  for  burial.  He 
smiled  and  said,  "  It  is  well,  dear  Bess,  that  thou  mayest 
dispose  of  that  dead  which  thou  hadst  not  always  the 
disposing  of  when  alive." 

He  wrote  on  the  fly-leaf  of  his  Bible  the  night  before 
his  execution  :  — 

"  E'en  such  is  time!  which  takes  in  trust 
Our  youth,  our  joys,  and  all  we  have; 
And  pays  us  naught  but  age  and  dust, 
Which  in  the  dark  and  silent  grave, 


232  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH. 

When  we  have  wandered  all  our  ways, 
Shuts  up  the  story  of  our  days. 
And  from  which  grave,  and  earth,  and  dust, 
The  Lord  shall  raise  me  up,  I  trust." 

In  the  morning  he  passed  cheerfully  through  the  vast 
throng  of  people  to  the  block.  Seeing  an  old  man  bare- 
headed, he  took  from  his  own  head  a  night-cap  of  cut 
lace  which  he  wore  under  his  hat,  and  threw  it  to  him 
with  the  words,  "You  need  this,  my  friend,  more  than 
I  do." 

"  He  was  the  most  fearless  of  death  that  ever  was 
known,"  said  Dr.  Townson,  his  spiritual  adviser,  "  and 
the  most  resolute  and  confident ;  yet  with  reverence  and 
conscience." 

On  the  scaffold  he  spoke  eloquently  for  nearly  a  half- 
hour,  showing  his  innocence  and  asserting  that  the  world 
would  yet  be  persuaded  of  it.  Friends  lingered  long  on 
the  scafford,  loath  to  leave  one  of  nature's  noblemen  and 
one  of  England's  greatest  and  bravest.  He  gently  dis- 
missed them,  saying,  "  I  have  a  long  journey  to  go, 
therefore  I  must  take  my  leave  of  you." 

After  he  had  prayed,  he  said,  "  I  die  in  the  faith  pro- 
fessed by  the  Church  of  England.  I  hope  to  be  saved, 
and  to  have  my  sins  washed  away  by  the  precious  blood 
and  merits  of  our  Saviour,  Christ." 

The  executioner  was  affected,  and  asked  to  be  forgiven 
for  what  he  was  about  to  do.  Raleigh  placed  both  hands 
on  the  man's  shoulders,  and  assured  him  of  his  forgiveness. 
He  then  laid  off  his  cloak,  and  asked  to  see  the  axe. 
The  man  hesitated.  Raleigh  again  said,  "  I  prithee 
let  me  see  it.  Dost  thou  think  that  I  am  afraid  of 
it?" 

He  touched  the  edge  with   his   finger,  and  kissed   the 


SIR    WALTER    RALEIGH.  233 

blade,  saying,  "  It  is  a  sharp  medicine,  but  one  that  Avill 
cure  me  of  all  diseases."  Soon  he  added,  "  When  I  stretch 
forth  my  hands,  despatch  me." 

The  executioner  then  cast  down  his  own  cloak  that  Sir 
Walter  might  kneel  upon  it.  When  asked  which  way  he 
would  lay  his  head  upon  the  block,  he  replied,  "So  the 
heart  be  right,  it  matters  not  which  way  the  head  lies." 
Raleigh  knelt,  prayed  for  a  moment,  laid  his  head  towards 
the  east,  and  then  stretched  forth  his  hands.  The  execu- 
tioner seemed  benumbed.  Raleigh  stretched  them  forth 
again,  but  no  blow  came. 

"  What  dost  thou  fear  ?  "  said  Raleigh.  "  Strike,  man, 
strike ! "  Two  blows  fell,  but  the  first  had  done  its 
bloody  work. 

The  severed  head  was  placed  in  a  red  bag  and  given  to 
Lady  Raleigh.  This  she  embalmed  and  kept  with  her 
while  she  lived,  giving  it  to  her  sonCarew  when  she  died. 
It  was  probably  buried  with  him  at  West  Horsley,  in  Sur- 
rey, where  he  had  an  estate. 

The  body  of  Sir  Walter  she  interred  in  St.  Margaret's, 
in  which  church,  in  1882,  after  a  lapse  of  two  centuries, 
a  beautiful  memorial  window  was  placed  in  memory  of 
the  man  so  unjustly  beheaded,  the  man  who  helped  to 
make  North  America  English  instead  of  Spanish,  as  the 
forerunner  of  the  Virginia  colony ;  whose  treatment  of 
the  Indians  was  above  reproach,  in  an  age  of  harshness 
and  immorality;  one  of  the  bravest  of  Englishmen,  and 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  his  time. 

Lady  Raleigh  lived  till  1G17,  twenty-nine  years  after 
the  death  of  Sir  Walter.  Though  she  did  not  see  the 
unfortunate  Charles  I.,  the  son  of  James,  perish  on  the 
scaffold,  Jan.  30,  1649,  she  saw  the  Stuarts  overthrown. 
The  vacillating  and  unrighteous  policy  of  James  I.  bore 
its  legitimate  fruit. 


234  SIR    WALTER   RALEIGH. 

Carew  Raleigh,  the  son,  after  graduating  from  "Wadham 
College,  Oxford,  came  to  court,  by  favor  of  his  kinsman, 
William,  Earl  of  Pembroke.  James  disliked  him,  as  he 
"  appeared  to  him  like  the  ghost  of  his  father "  —  no 
wonder  that  James's  conscience  troubled  him.  After 
the  King's  death,  a  year  later,  Carew  returned  and 
begged  to  have -his  estates  restored  to  him.  Charles  I. 
instead  gave  him  four  hundred  pounds  a  year,  after  the 
death  of  his  mother,  who  had  received  that  amount  while 
living.  He  married  Lady  Philippa,  the  rich  widow  of 
Sir  Anthony  Ashley,  and  had  two  sons  and  three  daugh- 
ters. He  was  in  Parliament  during  Cromwell's  time. 
At  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  his  elder  son,  Walter, 
was  knighted,  but  died  soon  after.  Carew  Raleigh  died 
in  1GGG,  at  the  age  of  sixty-two. 


SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN,  DR.   KANE, 
C.  F.  HALL,  AND   OTHERS. 


"  "~\TO  officer  could  have  been  found  in  the  marine  of 
-i-^l  any  country  who  combined  more  admirable  qual- 
ifications for  the  duties  of  an  explorer,"  says  Dr.  Elisha 
Kent  Kane  in  his  "  United  States  Grinnell  Expedition." 
"  To  the  resolute  enterprise  and  powers  of  endurance 
which  his  former  expeditions  had  tested  so  severely,  Sir 
John  Franklin  united  many  delightful  traits  of  character. 
With  an  enthusiasm  almost  boyish,  he  had  a  spirit  of 
large  but  fearless  forecast  and  a  sensitive  kindness 
of  heart  that  commiserated  every  one  but  himself.  He 
is  remembered  to  this  day  among  the  Indians  of  North 
America  as  ;  the  great  chief  who  would  not  kill  a  mos- 
quito.' "  He  is  remembered,  too,  by  all  the  world,  as 
the  man  for  whom  a  heroic  woman  spent  nearly  her  whole 
fortune  and  her  whole  life,  moving  two  continents  by 
her  prayers  and  her  appeals,  to  search  for  her  husband 
in  the  frozen  regions  of  North  America. 

In  the  little  town  of  Spilsby,  in  Lincolnshire,  Eng- 
land, April  16,  1786,  was  born  John  Franklin,  the 
youngest  son  in  a  family  of  ten  children  —  four  boys 
and  six  girls. 

The  father,  Willingham  Franklin,  was  engaged  in 
mercantile  pursuits,  and  seems  to  have  had  enough 
money  to  educate  his  children  well,  though  the  family 

235 


236  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN    AND   OTHERS. 

lived  simply,  in  a  one-story  house.  One  son,  the  second, 
Sir  Willingham  Franklin,  educated  at  Oxford,  became 
a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Judicature  in  Madras, 
and  died  at  the  age  of  forty-five.  Another  son,  Major 
James  Franklin,  became  distinguished  in  the  army,  was 
skilled  in  science,  and  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society, 
dying  at  the  age  of  fifty-one. 

John  was  sent  to  a  preparatory  school  at  St.  Ives,  in 
Huntingdonshire,  and  at  twelve  to  the  Louth  grammar 
school,  with  the  expectation  of  his  good  mother,  Hannah, 
that  he  would  become  a  clergyman. 

But  the  lad  seems  to  have  had  other  thoughts  in  his 
mind.  At  ten  years  of  age,  having  a  holiday,  he  and 
a  companion  went  to  the  shore  of  the  North  Sea,  about 
ten  miles  from  their  home.  The  sublimity  of  the  ocean 
greatly  impressed  John;  and  he  then  and  there  resolved 
to  be  a  sailor,  as  has  many  another  boy  before  and 
since,  forgetful  or  unconscious  of  the  hardships  before 
them. 

Disappointed  at  his  choice,  but  desiring  to  cure  him 
of  his  wish  to  go  to  sea,  as  school  had  become  distaste- 
ful to  him,  the  parents  sent  him  on  board  a  merchant 
ship  to  Lisbon  and  back.  Charmed  with  the  blue  waters 
and  pleased  with  the  kindness  of  the  captain,  who  liked 
and  petted  the  cheerful,  enthusiastic  boy,  he  became 
more  than  ever  infatuated  with  a  sailor's  life. 

His  earnest  entreaties  were  at  last  acceded  to;  and 
John  obtained  a  place  on  His  Majesty's  ship,  Polyphe- 
mus, March  9,  1800,  as  a  first-class  volunteer.  He  was 
now  fourteen  years  old.  A  year  later  the  Polyphemus 
with  eighteen  line-of-battle  ships  and  many  other  ves- 
sels, was  engaged  in  the  conflict  off  Copenhagen,  which 
Lord   Nelson   declared    "the    greatest   victory  he   ever 


SIR    JOHN     FRANKLIN. 


SIR  JOHN   FRANKLIN  AND    OTHERS.  237 

gained  .  .  .  the  most  hard-fought  battle  and  the  most 
complete  victory  that  ever  was  fought  and  obtained  by 
the  navy  of  this  country."  The  Polyphemus  boarded 
and  took  possession  of  two  ships,  losing  six  killed  and 
twenty-four  wounded.  The  boy  who  craved  adventure 
was  having  it  to  his  heart's  content. 

Soon  after  the  battle  young  Franklin  was  appointed 
one  of  six  midshipmen  on  the  ship  Investigator,  bound 
for  exploration  in  the  Southern  Hemisphere.  This  posi- 
tion came  through  a  relative,  Captain  Matthew  Flinders, 
also  from  Lincolnshire,  already  somewhat  known  as  an 
explorer  and  scientific  student. 

The  Investigator  sailed  from  Spithead,  July  18,  1801, 
and  anchored  in  King  George's  Sound  in  Western  Aus- 
tralia, Dec.  8.  Then  the  ship  sailed  along  the  south 
shore,  making  surveys,  and  naming  islands,  bays,  and 
inlets  —  two  islands  of  the  St.  Francis  group  were 
named  in  honor  of  the  boy  navigator,  then  fifteen  years 
of  age,  the  Franklin  Isles ;  another  in  Spencer  Gulf, 
Spilsby  Island,  after  his  birthplace,  while  a  large  bight 
was  named  Louth  Bay,  and  two  more  islands  Louth 
Islands,  after  the  old  grammar  school,  founded  by 
Edward  VI.  in  1552,  where  the  youth  had  studied  books 
with  his  heart  full  of  longing  for  the  sea.  Captain  Flin- 
ders must  have  felt  strangely  drawn  to  the  lad  who  was 
so  eager  in  his  geographical  studies  and  such  an  apt 
scholar  for  the  work  in  hand. 

On  their  arrival  in  Sydney  Cove  an  observatory  was 
set  up  on  shore,  where  all  the  astronomical  observations 
were  taken.  Franklin  was  made  assistant  to  Mr.  Samuel 
Flinders,  brother  of  the  captain,  and  was  called  jokingly, 
though  not  inaptly,  "  Tycho  Brahe,"  after  the  celebrated 
Danish  astronomer. 


23£j  SIR   JOHN   FRANKLIN   AND    OTHERS. 

Later  the  east  coast  of  Australia  was  carefully  ex- 
plored. After  nearly  two  years,  the  ship's  company 
having  become  much  reduced  by  sickness  and  several 
deaths,  through  scurvy  from  lack  of  fresh  food  and 
from  much  exposure,  the  old  Investigator  being  aban- 
doned as  unsea  worthy,  Captain  Flinders  sailed  for  Eng- 
land in  the  Porpoise.  Young  Franklin  was  made  master' s- 
mate  July  21,  1803. 

Six  days  after  the  Porpoise  had  sailed  from  Australia 
she  was  wrecked  on  the  reefs.  The  crew  were  saved, 
with  the  charts  and  books  of  the  expedition,  though 
the  latter  were  damaged  by  the  salt  water.  These  charts 
were  spread  out  to  dry  upon  the  sand,  and  Franklin  and 
others  thoughtlessly  drove  over  them  the  sheep  which 
were  saved  alive  from  the  ship.  The  marks,  it  is  said, 
are  still  to  be  seen  upon  them  in  the  Eoyal  Colonial 
Insitute  in  London. 

The  shipwrecked  men  erected  some  tents  on  the 
beach,  and  prepared  to  live  as  best  they  might  till  relief 
should  possibly  come.  Captain  Flinders  and  thirteen 
men  started  in  a  six-oared  boat,  saved  from  the  wreck, 
for  Sydney,  seven  hundred  and  fifty  miles  away.  They 
carried  provisions  for  three  weeks.  It  was  doubtful  if 
the  little  craft  could  ever  weather  the  sea ;  but  by  skil- 
ful management  she  reached  the  desired  port  and  ob- 
tained three  vessels,  one  bound  for  China,  and  two 
government  schooners,  which  sailed  to  the  wreck  and 
picked  up  the  anxious  and  disabled  company. 

Franklin  was  carried  to  China,  while  Captain  Flinders, 
touching  at  Mauritius  for  water  and  provisions,  was  made 
a  prisoner  of  war  by  the  French  Governor.  He  was 
detained  for  six  years  and  a  half.  On  his  release  he 
wrote  the  narrative  of  his  expedition,  and.  worn  by  his 


SIR   JOHN    FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  239 

privations  and  unjust  imprisonment,  he  died  July  19, 
1814,  on  the  very  day  that  his  book  was  published. 

Franklin  sailed  for  England  in  a  large  squadron  filled 
with  the  merchandise  of  China  and  Japan.  On  the 
journey  they  were  attacked  by  a  French  squadron  of 
men-of-war,  but  the  latter  were  defeated  by  the  mer- 
chant ships.  After  a  little  more  than  three  years, 
Aug.  7,  1804,  Franklin  was  once  more  in  the  one-story 
house  at  Spilsby,  and  Hannah  Franklin  was  listening 
intently  to  the  perils  of  her  son,  and  rejoicing  at  his 
safe  return. 

In  a  few  weeks  he  was  on  board  the  Bellerophon,  help- 
ing to  blockade  the  French  fleet  in  the  harbor  of  Brest. 
On  the  21st  of  October,  1805,  he  was  in  the  great  battle 
of  Trafalgar,  the  Bellerophon  taking  a  leading  part, 
losing  in  the  conflict  her  captain,  John  Cooke,  and 
twenty-seven  other  men,  while  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  were  wounded.  Franklin  evinced  conspicuous 
zeal  and  activity  as  signal  midshipman,  and  was  one 
of  the  few  in  the  stern  of  the  ship  who  escaped 
unhurt. 

From  the  Bellerophon,  Franklin  was  transferred  to 
the  Bedford,  and  was  made  an  acting  lieutenant  Dec.  5, 
1807.  She  cruised  for  some  weeks  off  Lisbon,  and 
Indued  to  escort  the  royal  family  of  Portugal  from  Lis- 
bon to  Brazil,  to  which  country  they  fled  for  safety  when 
Marshal  Junot  invaded  Portugal.  For  two  years  they 
were  stationed  on  the  coast  of  South  America,  return- 
ing to  England  in  August,  1810.  Three  months  later, 
Nov.  27,  1810,  Franklin's  mother  died  at  Spilsby,  at 
the  age  of  fifty-nine.  She  had  seen  her  son  at  twenty- 
four  respected  and  promoted.  She  could  not  know  how 
the  lad  born  in  the  quiet  home  was  to  be  talked  of  and 


240  SIR  JOHN  FR  AX  KLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

mourned  throughout  the  world.  She  had  reared  him  in 
her  own  earnest  faith  ;  she  could  trust  his  future. 

During  the  next  three  years  Franklin  cruised  in  the 
West  Indies,  and  was  engaged  in  the  attack  on  New 
Orleans  in  our  war  of  1812  with  England.  In  clearing 
Lake  Borgne  of  the  American  gun-boats  so  that  the 
English  could  land  their  army,  Franklin  was  wounded, 
and  received  a  medal  for  his  bravery.  Later  in  the  war 
he  showed  great  courage. 

In  1815,  on  his  return  to  England,  Franklin  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Forth,  and  made  first  lieutenant  under 
Captain  Sir  William  Bolton.  After  peace  was  concluded 
the  navy  was  reduced,  and  Franklin,  on  half-pay,  had 
leisure  to  devote  himself  to  scientific  study. 

From  early  times  there  had  been  talk  of  a  north-west 
passage  to  Cathay  (China)  and  India,  by  sailing  from 
Europe  above  North  America  in  the  Arctic  Circle,  and 
thus  crossing  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  ;  also 
a  north-east  passage  above  Russia.  Tragedy  had  attended 
nearly  every  voyage.  Sir  Hugh  Willoughby  and  his  fro- 
zen crew  met  their  fate  in  a  Lapland  harbor  in  try- 
ing to  solve  the  north-east  passage.  William  Barentz, 
the  Dutch  navigator,  in  Lis  third  voyage  in  1596,  per- 
ished off  Icy  Cape,  Alaska.  Henry  Hudson,  with  his 
orders  to  "go  direct  to  the  North  Pole,"  reached  80° 
30'  off  the  coast  of  Spitzbergen,  naming  the  north-west 
point  Hakluyt  Headland.  No  other  vessel  went  so  far 
to  the  northward  for  one  hundred  and  sixty  years. 

"  From  a  commercial  point  of  view,"  says  Captain 
Albert  Hastings  Markham,  R.  N.,  in  his  life  of  Frank- 
lin, "  Hudson's  voyage  must  always  be  regarded  as  a 
great  success ;  for  the  report  that  he  made  of  the  numer- 
ous whales  and  walruses  he  had  seen  led  to  the  estab- 


SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  241 

Jishment  of  that  lucrative  and  prosperous  fishery  which 
has,  with  varying  success,  been  prosecuted  to  the  present 
day.  The  east  coast  of  Greenland,  discovered  by  Hud- 
son, was  not  again  visited  by  any  known  navigator  for 
the  space  of  two  hundred  years." 

On  Hudson's  third  voyage,  1609,  in  search  of  the 
north-west  passage,  he  discovered  the  river  which  bears 
his  name,  and  on  his  fourth  voyage,  1610,  sailed  through 
Hudson's  Straits  and  several  hundred  miles  on  the  great 
Hudson  Bay.  He  wintered  on  Southampton  Island  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  bay,  and  in  the  spring  again 
started  for  the  Pacific.  But  his  men  mutinied,  and 
cruelly  putting  their  commander  with  his  only  son  and 
six  sailors,  all  ill,  into  an  open  boat,  left  them  to  per- 
ish amid  the  icebergs.  Some  of  the  mutineers  reached 
England  in  safety,  six  were  killed  by  the  Indians,  and 
some  starved  to  death.  At  home  they  were  despised 
and  died  unlamented.  Six  years  later,  1616,  William 
Baffin  discovered  Baffin's  Bay. 

Largely  through  the  influence  of  Sir  John  Barrow, 
Secretary  of  the  Admiralty,  England  was  again  inter- 
ested not  only  to  try  to  discover  the  north-west  passage 
and  reach  the  North  Pole,  but  to  undertake  these  things 
partly  in  the  interests  of  science,  rather  than  the  never- 
ending  chase  for  the  gold  of  Cathay  and  the  wealth  of 
the  Indies. 

Lieutenant  John  Eoss  and  Lieutenant  Edward  Parry' 
were  chosen  to  search  for  the  north-west  passage,  and 
Commander  David  Buchan  with  Lieutenant  John  Frank- 
lin to  reach,  if  possible,  the  North  Pole. 

Buchan  had  already  explored  considerable  of  New- 
foundland, and  Franklin  had  had  experience  in  Aus- 
tralia.    Buchan  commanded  the  Dorothea,  of  five  hundred 


242  SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND    OTHERS. 

and  seventy  tons,  and  Franklin  the  Trent,  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty  tons.  Both  ships  carried  provisions  for  two 
years  and  plenty  of  instruments  for  deep-sea  soundings 
and  astronomical  observations.  They  sailed  out  of  the 
Thames  April  25,  1818.  In  just  a  month,  May  24,  the 
ship  sighted  Bear,  or  Cherie  Island,  south  of  Spitzber- 
gen,  and  proceeded,  according  to  their  directions  from 
the  Government,  to  seek  the  North  Pole  by  sailing 
between  Spitzbergen  and  Greenland. 

The  ice  soon  became  so  thick  on  the  ships  that  it  was 
necessary  to  cut  it  away  by  axes  from  the  bows,  and  the 
ropes  were  much  covered.  June  3  they  were  in  Magda- 
lena  Bay,  on  the  north-west  coast  of  Spitzbergen.  Here 
they  surveyed  the  harbor,  shot  seals  and  walruses  which 
basked  in  the  sun  on  the  huge  broken  pieces  of  ice,  saw  a 
great  glacier,  believed  to  be  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  cir- 
cumference, slide  into  the  sea  from  a  height  of  two 
hundred  feet,  —  its  weight  was  computed  to  be  over  four 
hundred  thousand  tons,  —  and  then  sailed  around  the 
northern  shore  of  Spitsbergen,  and  near  Red  Bay  were 
beset  in  the  great  ice  pack  which  stretched  away  to  the 
north. 

After  several  days  the  ice  loosened  and  the  ships 
anchored  in  Fair  Haven,  a  little  to  the  west  of  Red  Bay. 
They  shot  forty  reindeer  and  several  eider  ducks,  thus 
providing  fresh  meat  for  the  men. 

Early  in  July  the  ships  again  put  to  sea,  and  reached 
eventually  80°  34'  north,  but  could  go  no  farther  on  ac- 
count of  the  impenetrable  mass  of  ice.  In  an  attempt  to 
go  westward  the  ships  were  caught  in  a  gale  of  wind, 
and  so  battered  by  the  ice  floes,  —  great  broken  pieces, 
—  that  Franklin  determined  to  drive  his  ship  into  the 
pack  to  escape  destruction.     When  she  struck  the  pack, 


SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  213 

the  men  lost  their  footing,  the  masts  bent,  and  the 
vessel  staggered  from  side  to  side. 

"  Literally  tossed  from  piece  to  piece,"  wrote  Captain 
Beechey,  then  first  lieutenant  of  the  Trent,  "  we  had 
nothing  left  but  patiently  to  abide  the  issue,  for  we 
could  scarcely  keep  our  feet,  much  less  render  any 
assistance  to  the  vessel.  The  motion  was  so  great  that 
the  ship's  bell,  which  in  the  heaviest  gale  of  wind  had 
never  struck  by  itself,  now  tolled  so  continually  that  it 
was  ordered  to  be  muffled,  for  the  purpose  of  escaping 
the  unpleasant  association  it  was  calculated  to  produce." 

On  the  following  morning  it  was  found  that  the 
Dorothea  was  even  more  badly  damaged  than  the  Trent, 
the  port  side  being  driven  in.  Though  Franklin  desired 
to  press  forward  in  the  search  for  the  Pole,  Captain 
Buchan  did  not  dare  to  take  his  vessel  to  England,  un- 
accompanied by  another  ship,  therefore  both  returned 
on  Oct.  22,  not  having  accomplished  their  desire,  but 
having  provided  a  useful  experience  for  the  yet  to  be 
distinguished  Arctic  navigator,  Franklin. 

The  other  expedition  under  Ross  and  Parry  sailed 
through  Davis  Strait,  up  Baffin's  Bay,  and  sixty  miles 
into  Lancaster  Sound  ;  but  the  weather  being  bad,  they 
returned  to  England  in  October  of  the  same  year.  Ross 
thought  there  was  land  beyond,  so  that  this  water  was 
Lancaster  Bay,  but  Parry  believed  it  to  be  a  sound,  thus 
continuing  the  north-west  passage. 

Franklin  and  Parry  were  both  eager  to  make  another 
voyage  of  research,  and  accordingly  in  May,  1819,  two 
expeditions  started  from  England.  Parry  had  two  ships, 
the  Hecla  and  Griper,  the  latter  commanded  by  Lieuten- 
ant Liddon.  In  about  a  month  they  reached  Davis 
Strait,    passed   through    Baffin's    Bay,    and   on    Aug.  4, 


244  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN   AND   OTHERS. 

entered  Lancaster  Sound.  Proceeding  farther  west, 
they  came  to  a  strait  which  they  named  Barrow  Strait, 
after  Sir  John  Barrow  of  the  Admiralty.  Here  their 
progress  was  barred  by  solid  ice,  and  they  were  obliged 
to  sail  south  through  Prince  Regent  Inlet,  which  leads 
into  Boothia  Gulf. 

Again  stopped  by  ice,  they  retraced  their  course,  and 
found  an  open  passage  through  Barrow  Strait.  On  their 
north  side  they  discovered  a  channel  which  they  named 
Wellington  Channel,  and  on  Sept.  3  they  crossed 
the  110th  meridian  of  west  longitude,  which  passes 
through  Melville  Island  in  Melville  Sound.  Here  the 
ice  again  stopped  them,  and  cutting  a  channel  in  it  for 
two  miles,  Parry  took  his  ship  through  to  winter  quarters 
on  the  south  side  of  Melville  Island.  This  place  he 
called  Winter  Harbor.  The  men  were  made  happy  by 
the  fact  that  they  had  earned  the  reward  of  five 
thousand  pounds  offered  by  Parliament  to  any  person 
or  ship  sailing  far  enough  west  to  cross  the  110th 
meridian. 

Parry  explored  the  country  about  him,  using  a  light 
cart  dragged  by  men.  Sir  F.  Leopold  M'Clintock  found 
the  marks  of  the  wheels  more  than  thirty  years  after- 
wards. 

The  next  summer,  finding  it  impossible  to  push 
through  the  ice,  and  not  having  provisions  for  another 
winter,  Parry  returned  to  England,  where  he  was  pro- 
moted to  the  rank  of  commander,  and  made  a  Fellow  of 
the  Royal  Society.  He  undertook  a  second  voyage  in 
1821,  again  sailing  in  the  Hecla,  with  the  ship  Fury  as 
escort,  hoping  to  find  the  north-west  passage  through 
Hudson's  Strait  and  Fox  Channel ;  but  they  were  unable 
to  get  beyond  a  strait  which  leads  into  Boothia  Gulf, 


SIR  JOHN    FRANKLIN   AND   OTHERS.  245 

which  he  named  Fury  and  Hecla  Strait.  There  they 
wintered,  and  returned  to  England  in  the  summer  of 
1823. 

Meantime  Franklin  started  from  England,  May  23, 
1819,  to  make  his  wonderful  journey  through  the  then 
unknown  North  American  lands.  He  was  accompanied 
by  Dr.  John  Richardson,  a  scientific  man,  Mr.  George 
Back,  and  Mr.  Robert  Hood,  midshipmen  and  artists 
both,  and  John  Hepburn,  a  sturdy  sailor.  They  were 
carried  to  Hudson  Bay  in  one  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company's  ships,  Prince  of  Wales,  and  after  being  nearly 
shipwrecked,  reached  York  Factory  on  the  south-west 
coast  of  the  Bay,  Aug.  30,  after  a  three  months'  voyage. 

Here  they  took  one  of  the  transports  of  the  company, 
a  light  boat  about  forty  feet  long,  requiring  a  crew 
of  from  nine  to  twelve  men.  When  these  boats  cannot 
pass  over  the  rapids  in  the  rivers,  they  are  carried  round 
the  falls  by  the  men. 

The  party  started  from  York  Factory  on  the  noon  of 
Sept.  9,  1819.  The  first  day  they  travelled  twelve 
miles,  six  by  boat,  and  then  they  were  obliged  to  drag 
it  by  hand,  walking  along  a  steep  and  slippery  bank. 
They  arose  at  five  the  next  morning,  all  eager  for  the 
march. 

Franklin  notes  in  his  journal  the  beauties  of  nature 
in  this  autumn  month,  on  Steel  River.  "The  light  yellow 
of  the  fading  poplars  formed  a  fine  contrast  to  the  dark 
evergreen  of  the  spruce,  whilst  the  willows,  of  an  inter- 
mediate hue,  served  to  shade  the  two  principal  masses 
of  color  into  each  other.  The  scene  was  occasionally 
enlivened  by  the  bright  purple  tints  of  the  dog-wood, 
blended  with  the  browner  shades  of  the  dwarf  birch, 
and  frequently  intermixed  with  the  gay  yellow  flowers 


246  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

of  the  shrubby  cinquefoil.  With  all  these  charms  the  scene 
appeared  desolate  from  the  want  of  the  human  species." 

Later  they  found  Indians  on  the  verge  of  starvation, 
some  having  been  reduced  to  eating  members  of  their 
own  family. 

At  the  end  of  nearly  two  months,  Oct.  23,  the  party 
reached  Cumberland  House,  on  the  Saskatchewan  River, 
after  a  toilsome  journey  of  seven  hundred  miles,  over 
marshes  and  across  lakes,  their  clothes  often  wet  all 
day  long. 

Unable  to  obtain  guides  and  hunters  at  this  point,  as 
he  had  hoped,  Franklin,  with  Back  and  Hepburn,  pressed 
on  towards  Fort  Chippewyan,  on  Lake  Athabasca,  where 
he  hoped  to  find  men  to  accompany  him,  leaving 
Richardson  and  Hood  to  winter  at  Cumberland  House. 

This  winter  journey  of  eight  hundred  and  fifty-seven 
miles  with  dogs  and  sledges  was  a  cold  and  dreary  one. 
"  The  tea  froze  in  the  tin  pots  before  we  could  drink  it, 
and  even  a  mixture  of  spirits  and  water  became  quite 
thick  by  congelation."  The  provisions  became  so  scanty 
that  the  poor  dogs  had  "  only  a  little  burnt  leather." 

The  snow-shoes,  made  "of  two  light  bars  of  wood, 
fastened  together  at  the  extremities,  and  projected  into 
curves  by  transverse  bars,"  were  from  four  to  six  feet 
long  and  about  one  foot  and  a  half  wide,  weighing  two 
pounds  each.  The  feet  become  very  sore  and  much 
swollen  after  long  travelling. 

Wolves  abounded.  Here  and  there  the  carcasses  of  deer 
were  found,  the  wolves  driving  the  herd  with  hideous 
yells  over  a  precipice,  and  then  feeding  on  their  mangled 
bodies  at  their  leisure. 

Finding  an  Indian  hut  on  the  journey  and  a  pile  of 
wood  near  by,  they  hoped  it  covered  provisions.     Remov- 


SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  2-17 

ing  the  upper  pieces  of  wood,  they  found  the  dead  body 
of  a  woman,  clothed  in  leather,  and  beside  her,  "  her 
former  garments,  the  materials  for  making  a  fire,  a  fish- 
ing-line, a  hatchet,  and  a  bark  dish."  These  she  was  sup- 
posed to  need  in  the  other  world. 

Five  families  of  the  Chippewyan  tribe  were  found  in 
a  destitute  condition.  "  They  had  recently,"  says  Frank- 
lin, "  destroyed  everything  they  possessed,  as  a  token  of 
their  great  grief  for  the  loss  of  their  relatives  in  the  pre- 
vailing sickness.  It  appears  that  no  article  is  spared  by 
these  unhappy  men  when  a  near  relative  dies;  their 
clothes  and  tents  are  cut  to  pieces,  their  guns  broken, 
and  every  other  weapon  rendered  useless,  if  some  per- 
sons do  not  remove  these  articles  from  their  sight,  which 
is  seldom  done.  Mr.  Back  sketched  one  of  the  children. 
This  delighted  the  father  very  much,  who  charged  the 
boy  to  be  very  good  now,  since  his  picture  had  been 
drawn  by  a  great  chief." 

The  Chippeways  think  their  first  ancestor  was  a  dog. 
The  Chippeway  widow,  says  Dr.  Richardson,  carries  a 
bundle  of  rags  or  a  doll  constantly  in  her  arms,  after  the 
husband  dies,  she  calling  this  bundle  her  husband.  When 
her  relatives  think  she  has  mourned  long  enough,  per- 
haps a  year,  she  is  at  liberty  to  marry  again. 

In  this  long  journey  Franklin  thought  one  of  the 
greatest  evils  was  that  of  "  being  constantly  exposed  to 
witness  the  wanton  and  unnecessary  cruelty  of  the  men 
to  their  dogs,  who  beat  them  unmercifully,  and  habitually 
vent  on  them  the  most  dreadful  and  disgusting  impreca- 
tions." Such  treatment  was  all  the  more  to  be  depre- 
cated, because  "these  useful  animals  are  a  comfort  to 
them  by  the  warmth  they  impart  when  lying  by  their 
side  or  feet,  as  they  usually  do." 


2-18  SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND    OTHERS. 

Lieutenant  Greely,  in  his  "  Three  Years  of  Arctic  Ser- 
vice," tells  what  kindness  will  do  for  these  dogs.  They 
bought  at  Godhaven,  Greenland,  "  stout  surly  animals  of 
apparently  incurable  viciousness."  Some  months  later 
he  says  :  "  Our  dogs  would  now  never  be  recognized  as  the 
same  wolfish,  snapping,  untamed  animals  obtained  a£  the 
Greenland  ports.  Good  care,  plenty  of  food,  and  kind 
treatment  had  filled  out  their  gaunt  frames,  put  them  in 
good  working  condition,  and  made  them  as  good-natured, 
appreciative,  and  trustful  as  though  they  had  never  been 
pounded,  half-starved,  and  generally  abused  from  their 
puppyhood  upward.  Half-starved  animals,  who  have 
never  been  kindly  spoken  to,  and  who  have  been  cruelly 
beaten  on  the  slightest  pretence,  necessarily  assume  in 
self-defence  a  threatening  and  vicious  attitude  toward 
all  comers."  Greely's  dogs  were  fed  regularly  once  a 
day,  and  "  we  never  found  it  necessary  to  maltreat  them 
to  insure  fair  behaviors  at  feeding-time."  Lieutenant 
Peary  in  his  Greenland  exploration  fed  his  dogs  once  a 
day,  and,  as  seen  at  his  lectures,  they  were  gentle  and 
kindly  creatures. 

Hall  says,  in  his  "  Arctic  Research  Expedition,"  that 
the  Eskimos  are  usually  kind  to  puppies,  as  they  wish 
them  for  future  service.  Sometimes  they  treat  them 
better  than  their  children.  During  one  of  his  sledge 
journeys  he  says,  "  I  found  that  two  puppies  formed  a 
part  of  our  company.  Their  mother  was  an  excellent 
sledge-dog  of  our  team.  The  pups  were  carried  in  the 
legs  of  a  pair  of  fur  breeches,  and  they  rode  on  the  sledge 
when  travelling.  Every  time  we  made  a  stop  they  were 
taken  out  of  their  warm  quarters  and  given  to  the  mother 
for  nursing.  When  we  arrived  at  our  encampment, 
Sharkey  built  up  a  small  snow-hut  for  the  parent  dog 
and  her  offspring." 


SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  249 

These  dogs  assist  in  the  hunts  for  seal,  walrus,  and 
bear.  Barbekark,  a  most  intelligent  dog,  belonging  to 
Hall,  killed  a  reindeer,  and  by  his  jumping  and  peculiar 
actions  finally  forced  the  men  to  go  to  the  spot,  where 
they  found  the  dead  animal,  and  brought  it  to  the  com- 
pany for  food. 

When  Hall  was  exhausted  in  a  sledge  journey  Barbe- 
kark "  would  dance  round  me,"  he  says,  "  kissing  my  face, 
placing  himself  by  my  side,  where  I  could  pillow  my 
head  upon  his  warm  body.  ...  He  would  bound  toward 
me,  raise  himself  on  his  hind-legs,  place  his  paws  upon 
my  breast,  and  glance  from  me  toward  the  vessel."  Bar- 
bekark was  brought  home  by  Hall  to  the  United 
States. 

The  Eskimos  use  their  dogs  in  summer  as  pack- 
animals.  "  I  have  seen,"  says  Gilder,  in  "  Schwatka's 
Search,"  a  fine  large  dog  that  would  carry  two  saddles 
of  reindeer  meat,  or  the  entire  forequarters  of  two  rein- 
deer. His  back  would  be  bent  low  beneath  the  burden 
he  bore,  but  still  he  would  struggle  along,  panting  the 
while,  and  regarding  his  master  with  a  look  of  the  deep- 
est affection  whenever  he  came  near  him,  yet  ever  ready 
to  fight  any  other  dog  that  got  in  his  way." 

Dr.  Richardson  and  Mr.  Hood  joined  the  party  again 
in  July,  and  all  proceeded  to  Fort  Providence,  on  the 
northern  shore  of  Great  Slave  Lake.  They  now  had  with 
them  twenty-six  men,  principally  Canadian  half-breeds, 
three  women  to  make  the  fur  clothes,  and  as  many  chil- 
dren. Several  Indians  in  their  canoes  also  joined  the 
party  to  hunt  and  fish  for  them. 

After  travelling  five  hundred  and  fifty-three  miles,  they 
were  obliged  to  settle  for  the  winter,  as  the  Indians  would 
not  pro< -I   farther,  prophesying  death   from  cold  and 


250  SIR  JOIIN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

starvation.  The  place  where  they  erected  their  log 
buildings  they  called  Fort  Enterprise. 

Very  soon  after  their  huts  were  built,  the  walls  and 
roofs  plastered  with  clay,  the  reindeer  disappeared  from 
that  locality,  and  fish  began  to  fail  them.  These  froze  as 
soon  as  taken  out  of  the  nets ;  very  soon  the  nets  them- 
selves were  found  empty.  The  Hudson  Bay  Company's 
posts  had  not  been  able  to  furnish  them  the  provisions 
they  had  promised. 

It  became  necessary  for  Back  to  return  to  Fort  Chippe- 
wyan  for  supplies.  He  started  Oct.  18,  with  three  or  four 
persons,  and  returned  March  17,  after  a  five  months'  jour- 
ney of  eleven  hundred  and  four  miles  on  snow-shoes, 
with  no  covering  at  night  save  one  blanket  and  a  deerskin, 
with  the  thermometer  once  at  fifty-seven  degrees  below 
zero,  and  sometimes  without  food  for  two  and  three  days 
at  a  time.  The  Indians  who  went  with  him  were  very 
generous,  often  not  tasting  a  fish  or  bird  which  they 
caught,  but  giving  it  to  Back  with  the  self-sacrificing 
words,  "We  are  accustomed  to  starvation,  but  you  are  not." 
The  party  lived  largely  on  a  weed  or  lichen  gathered 
from  the  rocks,  called  tripe  de  roche.  One  night  while 
they  were  eating  it,  "  I  perceived,"  says  Mr.  Back  in  his 
journal,  "one  of  the  women  busily  employed  scraping  an 
old  skin,  the  contents  of  which  her  husband  presented  us 
with.  They  consisted  of  pounded  meat,  fat,  and  a  greater 
proportion  of  Indian's  and  deer's  hair  than  either ;  and, 
though  such  a  mixture  may  not  appear  very  alluring  to  an 
English  stomach,  it  was  thought  a  great  luxury  after  three 
days'  privation  in  these  cheerless  regions  of  America." 

The  feet  of  the  dogs  became  raw  with  the  jagged  ice, 
and  Back  made  shoes  for  them,  which,  however,  came  off 
frequently  in  the  deep  snow. 


SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND    OTHERS.  251 

At  length,  with  what  food  Back  had  been  able  to  pro- 
cure, Franklin  and  his  party  left  Fort  Enterprise  June 
14,  1821,  with  two  large  canoes  and  several  sledges, 
crossing  lakes  and  hills,  and  finally  sailing  on  the  Cop- 
permine River  to  the  sea.  They  arranged  with  an  Indian 
chief,  Akaitcho,  to  accumulate  a  large  supply  of  provis- 
ions at  Fort  Enterprise,  in  case  they  should  return  there 
the  following  winter. 

Their  feet  were  torn  by  the  ice  and  sharp-pointed 
stones,  and  the  feet  of  the  dogs  left  bloody  marks ;  they 
were  tormented  with  swarms  of  mosquitoes,  and  their  food 
was  mouldy  from  being  wet ;  but  they  pushed  on  hope- 
fully through  the  three  hundred  and  thirty-four  miles,  for 
they  were  nearing  the  Arctic  Ocean,  which  they  had  longed 
to  reach.  On  July  21  they  launched  their  canoes  on  the 
ocean,  for  the  journey  eastward  along  the  coast  line. 

During  the  journey  from  Fort  Enterprise  they  killed 
several  musk-oxen.  "These,"  said  Franklin,  "  like  the 
buffalo,  herd  together  in  bands,  and  generally  frequent 
the  barren  grounds  during  the  summer  months,  keeping 
near  to  the  banks  of  the  river,  but  retire  to  the  woods  in 
winter.  .  .  .  When  two  or  three  men  get  so  near  a  herd 
as  to  fire  at  them  from  different  points,  these  animals, 
instead  of  separating  or  running  away,  huddle  closer 
together,  and  several  are  generally  killed ;  but  if  the 
wound  is  not  mortal  they  become  enraged,  and  dart  in 
the  most  furious  manner  at  the  hunters,  who  must  be 
very  dexterous  to  evade  them.  They  can  defend  them- 
selves by  their  powerful  horns  against  the  wolves  and 
bears,  which,  as  the  Indians  say,  they  not  unfreqently 
kill." 

Dr.  John  Richardson  says  of  hunting  this  animal :  "  The 
shaggy  patriarch  [the  leader]  advanced  before   the  cows, 


252  SIR  JOIIN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

which  threw  themselves  into  a  circular  group,  and,  lower- 
ing his  shot-proof  forehead  so  as  to  cover  his  body,  came 
slowly  forward,  stamping  and  pawing  the  ground  with  his 
fore-feet,  bellowing,  and  showing  an  evident  disposition 
for  fight,  while  he  tainted  the  atmosphere  with  the  strong 
musky  odor  of  his  body." 

When  wounded  by  a  ball,  "  he  instantly  faced  about, 
roared,  struck  the  ground  forcibly  with  his  fore-feet,  and 
seemed  to  be  hesitating  whether  to  charge  or  not."  The 
men  were  glad  when  they  saw  him  climb  the  snow-cov- 
ered mountain,  followed  by  the  cows. 

Greely,  in  his  "  Three  Years  of  Arctic  Service,"  tells 
of  the  securing  alive  of  four  calves  in  a  band  of  musk- 
oxen,  at  Discovery  Bay,  in  Robeson  Channel,  far  north  of 
Smith  Sound.  "  The  calves  were  brought  in  from  the  top 
of  the  mountain,  eighteen  hundred  feet  above  the  sea," 
says  Greely.  "  Every  effort  was  made  to  raise  the 
calves,  which  soon  became  tame  and  tractable.  They 
ate  milk,  corn-meal,  and  almost  any  food  that  was  given 
them.  ...  In  a  short  time  they  became  very  fond  of 
Long  and  Frederik,  who  generally  cared  for  them,  and 
would  follow  them  around  and  put  their  noses  into  the 
men's  pockets  for  food.  I  had  intended  to  send  them  to 
the  United  States  by  the  visiting  vessel  of  1882.  When 
the  long  nights  came  it  was  impracticable  to  give  them 
exercise,  and  probably  from  this  cause,  despite  our  care, 
they  died." 

Greely  tried  to  save  the  calves  by  sending  them  to 
Bellot  Island,  near  by.  When  one  was  untied  he  died 
immediately.  "  The  other  was  taken  up  into  the  ravine, 
following  Long  like  a  dog,  but,  despite  all  efforts,  the  men 
were  unable  to  leave  him  there ;  he  ran  after  the  sledge 
and  returned  to  the    station.     After  arriving   near  the 


SIR   JOHN   FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  253 

house  he  followed  Long  everywhere,  and  was  finally  car- 
ried to  his  old  pen.     He  died  the  next  day." 

The  Franklin  party  saw  a  few  Eskimos  who  fled  at 
their  approach,  leaving  an  aged  man  who  was  too  infirm 
to  follow  them.  He  was  bent  and  white-haired.  "  When- 
ever Terragaunoeuck  received  a  present,"  says  Franklin, 
"  he  placed  each  article  first  on  his  right  shoulder,  then 
on  his  left ;  and  when  he  wished  to  express  still  higher 
satisfaction,  he  rubbed  it  over  his  head.  He  held  hatch- 
ets and  other  iron  instruments  in  the  highest  esteem. 
On  seeing  his  countenance  in  a  glass  for  the  first  time,  he 
exclaimed,  '  I  shall  never  kill  deer  more,'  and  immedi- 
ately put  the  mirror  down.  .  .  .  These  Eskimos  strike 
fire  with  two  stones,  catching  the  sparks  in  the  down  of 
the  catkins  of  a  willow.  .  .  Their  cooking  utensils  are 
made  of  pot-stone,  and  they  form  very  neat  dishes  of 
fur,  the  sides  being  made  of  thin  deal  bent  into  an  oval 
form,  secured  at  the  ends  by  seaming,  and  fitted  so  nicely 
to  the  bottom  as  to  be  perfectly  water-tight.  They  have 
also  large  spoons  made  of  the  horns  of  the  musk  oxen." 

Terregaunceuck  gave  each  person  a  piece  of  dried  meat, 
which,  though  highly  tainted,  was  at  once  eaten,  as  this 
was  a  token  of  peaceable  intention. 

After  reaching  the  Arctic  Ocean,  they  explored  the 
coast  for  five  hundred  and  fifty-five  miles,  and  would 
gladly  have  gone  farther,  but  meeting  no  Eskimos  who 
could  provide  them  with  food,  and  killing  only  some 
bears  and  two  small  deer,  they  turned  back  on  the  22d  of 
August,  at  a  point  which  Franklin  named  Point  Turna- 
gain,  on  Dease  Strait,  six  and  one-half  degrees  east  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Coppermine  River. 

It  was  a  perilous  journey  in  their  light  canoes,  and 
most  of  the  Indians  refused  to  take  it,  having  no  faith 


254  -S7.fi   JOHN  FRANKLIN   AND   OTHERS. 

that  such  boats  could  live  amid  the  blocks  of  ice  and  iii 
the  storms. 

Soon  after  starting  they  landed  on  an  island  where  the 
Eskimos  had  stored  up  fishing  implements  and  winter 
sledges,  with  dressed  seal,  musk  ox,  and  deer-skins. 
"  We  took  from  this  deposit,"  says  Franklin,  "  four  seal- 
skins to  repair  our  shoes,  and  left  in  exchange  a  copper 
kettle  and  some  awls  and  beads." 

At  several  places  where  Eskimos  had  been  encamped, 
leaving  either  sledges  or  skins  till  their  return,  Franklin 
left  presents  of  knives  and  beads,  to  show  the  friendship 
of  the  white  men.  This  was  but  in  accordance  with  the 
nature  of  the  man  so  universally  beloved  and  so  univer- 
sally lamented. 

They  explored  a  gulf  and  named  it  Coronation  Gulf  in 
honor  of  George  IV.,  who  had  recently  come  to  the 
throne.  Hood  River  was  named  after  Franklin's  young 
companion.  Some  islands  he  called  Porden,  after  Miss 
Eleanor  Anne  Porden,  the  daughter  of  an  eminent  archi- 
tect, and  a  girl  of  much  talent.  When  Buchau  and 
Franklin  made  their  first  trip  in  the  Dorothea  and  the 
Trent  to  the  Arctic  regions,  she  wrote  a  sonnet  on  the 
expedition,  which  led  to  her  acquaintance  with  Franklin, 
and  a  deeper  interest  in  him  and  his  journey.  She  soon 
after  wrote  a  poem,  assuming  the  character  of  an  Es- 
kimo maiden,  begging  Franklin  to  return  to  the  North. 
Perhaps  he  could  read  between  the  lines  that  his  return 
to  England  would  be  equally  welcomed. 

On  the  departure  for  Fort  Enterprise  it  was  decided 
to  take  the  shortest  route  overland,  one  hundred  and 
forty-nine  miles  in  a  straight  line.  The  stores  and  books 
were  to  be  left  in  boxes  en  cache;  that  is,  covered  up  with 
a  pile  of  stones  away  from  the  wolves,  while  each  man 


iSIIl  JOHN   FRANKLIN  AND    OTHERS.  255 

bore  on  his  shoulders  about  ninety  pounds'  weight  in 
ammunition,  nets,  hatchets,  astronomical  instruments, 
blankets,  kettles,  and  two  canoes. 

On  the  evening  of  the  day  on  which  they  started  they 
killed  a  cow  from  a  drove  of  musk  oxen,  but  the  men 
were  too  heavily  laden  to  carry  more  than  a  small  portion 
of  the  flesh.  This  was  unfortunate,  as  food  soon  became 
scarce. 

Early  in  September  snow  fell  three  feet  deep,  and 
storms  were  frequent.  The  last  piece  of  pemican  was 
gone.  This  food  was  prepared,  says  Sir  John  Richard- 
son, iu  his  "  Arctic  Searching  Expedition,"  "  from  beef  of 
the  best  quality,  cut  into  thin  steaks,  from  which  the 
fat  and  membranous  parts  were  pared  away,  was  dried 
in  a  malt  kiln  over  an  oak  fire,  until  its  moisture  was 
entirely  dissipated,  and  the  fibre  of  the  meat  became  fri- 
able." After  being  ground  in  a  mill,  it  was  mixed  with 
equal  weight  of  beef-suet  or  lard.  Sometimes  Zante 
currants  or  sugar  were  added.  The  tents  and  bedclothes 
were  frozen,  and  all  began  to  suffer  from  insufficient  food. 
Franklin  writes  in  his  journal,  "I  was  seized  with  a 
fainting  lit,  in  consequence  of  exhaustion  and  sudden 
exposure  to  the  wind ;  but  after  eating  a  morsel  of  port- 
able soup,  I  recovered  so  far  as  to  be  able  to  move  on. 
I  was  unwilling  at  first  to  take  this  morsel  of  soup,  which 
was  diminishing  the  small  and  only  remaining  meal  of 
the  party ;  but  several  of  the  men  urged  me  to  it,  with 
much  kindness." 

The  larger  of  the  two  canoes  became  so  broken  through 
the  falling  of  the  man  who  carried  it  that  it  was  valueless. 
They  therefore  used  it  to  build  a  fire  to  cook  the  last  of 
their  soup  and  arrow-root,  a  scanty  meal  after  three  days' 
fasting.     In  the  afternoon  they  gathered  some  tripe  de 


256  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN   AND    OTHERS. 

roche  from  the  rocks,  and  with  half  a  partridge  each, 
which  had  been  shot  during  the  day,  they  made  a  sup- 
per, cooked  by  a  few  willows  dug  from  beneath  the  snow. 
They  slept  that  night  and  all  the  succeeding  nights 
upon  their  shoes  and  socks,  to  prevent  them  from  freezing. 

They  forded  rapid  rivers,  often  up  to  their  breasts  in 
water,  and  sometimes  carried  over  one  passenger  at  a 
time  in  their  leaky  canoe.  One  of  the  men  walked  all 
night  to  hunt  a  herd  of  musk  oxen  which  he  had  seen, 
but  was  enabled  to  bring  back  only  four  pounds  of  a 
deer,  the  rest  of  which  had  been  devoured  by  wolves. 

Finally,  in  a  herd  of  musk  oxen,  they  killed  a  cow 
which  was  skinned  and  cut  up  at  once.  "The  contents 
of  its  stomach  were  devoured  upon  the  spot,  and  the 
raw  intestines,"  writes  Franklin.  "  A  few  willows 
whose  tops  were  seen  peeping  through  the  snow  in  the 
bottom  of  the  valley  were  quickly  grubbed,  the  tents 
pitched,  and  supper  cooked  and  devoured  with  avidity. 
This  was  the  sixth  day  since  we  had  had  a  good  meal, 
the  tripe  de  roche  (lichens),  even  when  we  got  enough, 
only  serving  to  allay  the  pangs  of  hunger  for  a  short 
time ; "  and  he  adds,  "  This  unpalatable  weed  was  now 
quite  nauseous  to  the  whole  party,"  and  produced  sick- 
ness among  them. 

The  men  were  growing  so  weak  after  three  weeks  on 
the  march  that  it  became  necessary  to  lighten  the  bag- 
gage by  leaving  the  books  and  several  of  the  instruments 
on  the  way.  Dr.  Richardson  was  also  obliged  to  leave 
his  specimens  of  plants  and  minerals. 

In  crossing  a  river  three  hundred  yards  wide,  the  canoe 
was  overturned  in  the  middle  of  the  rapid,  and  being 
righted  and  entered,  she  struck  a  rock  and  went  down  ; 
but  they  were  able  to  rescue  her,  though  Franklin's  port- 


SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  257 

folio,  with  his  journals,  meteorological  and  astronomical 
observations  made  during  the  descent  of  the  Coppermine 
River  and  along  the  seacoast,  were  lost.  One  of  the 
men,  Eelanger,  was  nearly  drowned  and  dragged  senseless 
through  the  rapid  by  a  small  cord  belonging  to  one  of 
the  nets.  When  rescued  he  was  rolled  in  blankets,  and 
two  men  undressed  themselves  and  went  to  bed  with 
him;  but  he  did  not  recover  warmth  and  sensation  for 
several  hours. 

On  Sept.  15  a  deer  was  killed,  and  this  gave  cause 
for  thanksgiving.  When  this  was  gone  they  ate  the 
skin.  "  We  were  now,"  writes  Franklin,  "  almost  ex- 
hausted by  slender  fare  and  travel,  and  our  appetites 
had  become  ravenous.  We  looked,  however,  with  hum- 
ble confidence  to  the  great  Author  and  Giver  of  all 
good,  for  a  continuance  of  the  support  which  had 
hitherto  been  always  supplied  to  us  at  our  greatest 
need."  Evening  prayers  were  read  at  the  close  of  each 
weary  day. 

The  sun  had  not  shone  for  six  days,  and  the  helpers 
were  becoming  discouraged,  and  even  threatened  to 
throw  away  their  bundles.  They  did  indeed  throw 
away  the  broken  canoe,  and  could  not  be  induced  to 
carry  it  again,  and  the  officers  had  become  too  weak  to 
do  so  after  the  refusal  of  the  men.  "The  latter  halted 
among  some  willows,"  says  Franklin,  "where  they  had 
picked  up  some  pieces  of  skin  and  a  few  bones  of  deer 
that  had  been  devoured  by  the  wolves  last  spring.  They 
had  rendered  the  bones  friable  by  burning,  and  eaten 
them  as  well  as  the  skin  ;  and  several  of  them  had 
added  their  old  shoes  to  the  repast."  The  officers  also 
"  refreshed  themselves  by  eating  their  old  shoes  and  a 
few  scraps  of  leather." 


258  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN   AND   OTHERS. 

After  eight  days  of  famine  they  killed  five  small  deer, 
and  "every  heart  was  filled  with  gratitude."  They  then 
prepared  to  make  a  raft  of  willows  to  cross  the  Copper- 
mine River,  forty  miles  from  Fort  Enterprise. 

The  cold  increased  and  the  men  became  careless,  and 
scattered  in  different  directions  for  hunting.  When  they 
shot  partridges,  they  secreted  them  from  the  officers, 
fearing  starvation.  Finally  the  raft  was  completed,  and 
Dr.  Richardson,  after  several  fruitless  attempts  by  the 
men  to  cross,  attempted  to  swim  with  a  line  about  his 
body.  He  soon  became  benumbed  with  the  cold,  —  he 
was  reduced  to  skin  and  bone  for  lack  of  food,  and  so 
could  not  bear  the  exposure,  —  and  sank  before  their 
eyes.  They  instantly  pulled  upon  the  line,  and  he  was 
drawn  in  almost  lifeless.  He  was  restored;  but,  his 
whole  left  side  being  deprived  of  feeling,  did  not  come 
to  its  natural  condition  till  the  following  summer. 

Finally  a  kind  of  canoe  was  made  out  of  the  painted 
canvas  in  which  they  wrapped  their  bedding,  and  it 
was  covered  with  pitch  gathered  from  the  small  pines 
which  grew  near.  Meantime  the  men  had  found  the 
putrid  carcass  of  a  deer  which  had  perished  in  the  cleft 
of  a  rock  in  the  spring,  and  it  was  devoured  at  once. 
Again  they  found  "  the  antlers  and  back  bone  of  a  deer 
which  had  been  killed  in  the  summer.  The  wolves  and 
birds  of  prey  had  picked  them  clean,  but  there  still 
remained  a  quantity  of  the  spinal  marrow  which  they 
had  not  been  able  to  extract.  This,"  writes  Franklin, 
"  although  putrid,  was  esteemed  a  valuable  prize,  and 
the  spine  being  divided  into  portions,  was  distributed 
equally.  After  eating  the  marrow,  which  was  so  acrid 
as  to  excoriate  the  lips,  we  rendered  the  bones  friable  by 
burning,  and  ate  them  also." 


SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN   AND    OTHERS.  259 

The  company  had  now  become  so  weak  that  some 
walked  by  the  support  of  a  stick.  They  could  talk  of 
little  else  but  the  dire  need  for  food. 

They  crossed  the  river  in  the  little  canoe,  one  at  a 
time  being  drawn  over;  but  at  each  passage  it  filled  with 
water,  and  their  clothes  and  bedding  were  wet  and  fro- 
zen. They  now  ate  the  remains  of  their  old  shoes  and 
whatever  scraps  of  leather  they  had,  and  pressed  for- 
ward in  'the  deep  snow,  some  falling  at  almost  every 
step.  At  last  some  became  benumbed  and  speechless, 
and  their  companions  were  unable  to  carry  them.  Death 
stared  the  whole  party  in  the  face. 

Finally  it  was  decided  to  leave  Richardson  and  Hood 
with  faithful  John  Hepburn  to  help  them  to  gather 
what  trijje  de  roche  they  could,  while  Franklin  and 
the  rest  pushed  on  towards  Fort  Enterprise.  After  they 
"had  united  in  thanksgiving  and  prayers  to  Almighty 
God,"  the  forlorn  party  started  with  the  hope  of  finding 
succor  and  relieving  these  three  companions. 

Unable  to  carry  the  tent,  they  cut  it  up,  and  the  next 
night  crept  close  together,  but  could  not  keep  warm  in 
the  deepening  snow.  Perrault,  one  of  the  men,  had 
become  so  dizzy  that  he  could  not  stand,  and  J.  B. 
Belanger  and  Michel  an  Irorpiois  begged  to  return  to 
Richardson  and  Hood,  which  was  reluctantly  permitted. 
About  two  miles  farther  on  Fontano,  an  Italian,  fell 
down  utterly  exhausted,  and  was  allowed  to  find  his  way 
back,  if  possible,  to  the  other  men. 

The  Franklin  party  was  now  reduced  to  four  men 
besides  himself,  Adam,  Reltier,  Benoit,  and  Samandre. 
Tliey  collected  some  tripe  de  roche,  and  partook  of  their 
only  meal  in  four  days.  They  saw  a  herd  of  reindeer,  but 
their  only  hunter,  Adam,  was  too  feeble  to  pursue  them. 


2G0  SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND    OTHERS. 

At  length  the  starving  company  readied  Fort  Enter- 
prise. What  was  their  horror  to  find  no  deposit  of  pro- 
visions, as  Altai tcho,  the  chief,  had  promised,  and  no 
trace  of  Indians.  The  whole  party  gave  way  to  a  flood 
of  tears.  They  found  a  note  from  Mr.  Back,  who  had 
reached  the  place  two  days  before  with  St.  Germain,  Sol- 
omon Belanger,  and  Beanparlant,  that  he  had  gone  in 
search  of  Indians. 

They  learned  afterward  the  reason  why  Altaitcho  had 
failed  to  keep  his  word  in  leaving  provisions.  Though 
disbelieving  that  the  white  men  would  come  back  alive,  he 
entrusted  the  matter  to  his  brother  Humpy,  who  with 
his  men  failed  to  get  a  supply  of  ammunition  from  Fort 
Brovidence,  and  were  obliged  to  turn  old  axes  into  balls. 
Several  of  the  leading  hunters  were  drowned,  and  some 
actually  starved.  Some  writing  was  left  on  a  plank  for 
Franklin  showing  these  reasons ;  but  as  the  house  had 
become  opened  and  a  home  for  wild  beasts,  the  writing 
had  become  destroyed. 

Franklin  and  his  party  then  looked  round  at  Fort 
Enterprise  for  something  to  eat,  and  to  their  great  joy 
found  some  deer-skins  which  had  been  thrown  away  dur- 
ing their  former  residence.  Some  bones  were  also  gath- 
ered from  the  ash  heap.  They  pulled  up  the  floors  of 
the  little  house  for  a  fire. 

Scarcely  were  they  seated  at  the  fire,  when  Belanger 
came,  almost  speechless  and  covered  with  ice,  with  a 
note  from  Back  that  he  could  find  no  trace  of  Indians. 

Franklin  determined  at  once  to  search  himself  for 
Indians,  as  this  was  their  only  hope  for  life,  and  took 
with  him  Benoit,  and  Augustus  who  had  strayed  away 
from  the  party  and  was  now  returned.  They  parted 
sadly  from  their  companions,  but  Franklin  says  "There 


SIR  JOHN   FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  201 

was  far  more  calmness  and  resignation  to  the  Divine 
will  evinced  by  every  one  than  could  have  been  ex- 
pected." Franklin  broke  his  snow-shoes,  and  was 
obliged  to  return  to  the  Fort  while  the  men  went  on. 

Adam  was  ill,  and  Samandre  too  despairing  and  weak 
to  help,  both  weeping  all  day  long.  Peltier  gathered 
the  wood,  and  Franklin  cooked  whatever  skins  he  could 
find  under  the  snow.  Their  strength  declined,  and  when 
once  seated  they  had  to  help  each  other  to  arise.  But 
all  the  time  Franklin  conversed  cheerfully,  and  bade 
them  hope  for  relief. 

A  herd  of  reindeer  passed,  but  nobody  could  fire  a  gun 
without  resting  it  upon  some  support.  They  could  no 
longer  cut  wood,  being  unable  to  lift  the  hatchet.  At 
this  juncture  Dr.  Richardson  and  Hepburn  entered. 

They  had  a  sad  story  to  relate.  Mr.  Hood,  the  artist, 
had  been  shot  by  Michel,-  the  Iroquois,  in  the  back  of 
the  head.  Bickersteth's  "  Scripture  Help  "  was  lying 
open  beside  the  body,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  bril- 
liant and  warm-hearted  young  officer  was  reading  it  at  the 
time  he  was  shot.  It  now  became  probable  to  Richard- 
son that  the  Indian,  Michel,  had  killed  and  eaten  Jean 
Baptist  Belanger  and  Berrault,  and  that  the  supposed 
deer-meat  which  he  brought  to  the  tent  was  portions  of 
their  bodies.  Michel  became  surly,  threatened  Hepburn, 
and  would  not  obey  orders.  He  said,  "  It  is  no  use 
limiting,  there  are  no  animals  ;  you  had  better  kill  and 
eat  me."  Fearing  for  their  own  lives,  Dr.  Richardson 
shot  him  through  the  head.  Credit,  Fontano,  and  Vail- 
lant,  three  other  helpers,  were  also  dead  on  the  way. 

Richardson  became  so  exhausted  on  the  journey  to  the 
fort  that  he  fell  frequently,  and  was  saved  only  b}r  the 
faithful   Hepburn.     As  soon  as  they  arrived,  the  latter 


262  SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN   AND   OTHERS. 

killed  a  partridge,  and  after  holding  it  before  the  fire 
for  a  few  minutes,  it  was  divided  equally  to  each  man. 
"  It  was  the  first  flesh  any  of  us  had  tasted,"  says  Frank- 
lin, "  for  thirty-one  days."  .  .  .  The  doctor  having 
brought  his  prayer-book  and  Testament,  some  prayers 
and  portions  of  Scripture,  appropriate  to  our  situation, 
were  read,  and  we  retired  to  bed." 

Peltier  and  Samandre  soon  died  from  exhaustion,  and 
the  rest  were  unable  to  bury  them.  Adam  Avas  so  low 
that  Franklin  remained  constantly  by  his  side,  and  slept 
by  him  at  night  to  keep  some  warmth  in  his  emaciated 
body. 

Nov.  4  Franklin  found  but  three  bones,  and  returned 
fatigued  to  the  house.  The  doctor  and  Hepburn  were 
now  unable  to  rise  without  each  helping  the  other. 
They  all  uttered  fretful  expressions,  which  were  no 
sooner  spoken  than  atoned  for.  They  still  read  the  New 
Testament,  and  prayed  morning  and  evening,  — a  pitiful 
circle  of  worshippers  in  that  cheerless  hut,  —  but  it 
"always  afforded  us  the  greatest  consolation,"  says 
Franklin,  "  serving  to  reanimate  our  hopes  in  the  mercy 
of  the  Omnipotent,  who  alone  could  save  and  deliver 
us." 

Nov.  7  they  heard  the  report  of  a  gun,  and  then  saw 
three  Indians  close  to  the  house.  Dr.  Richardson  and 
Franklin  "immediately  addressed  thanksgiving  to  the 
throne  of  mercy  for  this  deliverance."  Adam  could  not 
comprehend  it ;  he  was  so  weak  ;  he  tried  to  rise,  but 
sank  down  again. 

The  Indians  had  been  sent  by  Mr.  Back  from  Akait- 
cho's  encampment,  which  he  had  finally  reached,  and 
brought  dried  deer-meat,  some  fat,  and  a  few  tongues. 
Deliverance  had  come  at  last,  and  they  were  saved  from 


SIU   JOHN   FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  2(33 

starvation.  One  Indian  returned  to  Akaitcho  to  tell  about 
their  condition,  while  two,  Crooked-Foot  and  the  Eat, 
stayed  to  give  the  most  watchful  care  to  the  white  men, 
feeding  them  as  if  they  were  children. 

Meantime  the  journey  of  Back  and  his  men  had  been 
replete  with  hardships.  They  lived  on  bones  and  skins 
abandoned  by  the  wolves  on  account  of  the  severity  of 
the  weather.  Poor  Beauparlant  fell  and  froze  to  death 
on  the  journey.  Their  feet  were  cracked,  their  faces 
and  fingers  frozen,  and  they  barely  escaped  death. 

When  Franklin  and  his  men  were  somewhat  recov- 
ered, they  moved  on  towards  Fort  Providence.  "  The 
Indians,"  he  says,  "  treated  us  with  the  utmost  tender- 
ness, gave  us  their  snow-shoes,  and  walked  without 
themselves,  keeping  by  our  sides,  that  they  might  lift 
us  when  we  fell." 

Finally  they  reached  the  encampment  of  the  chief, 
Akaitcho,  where  they  were  warmly  welcomed,  the  chief 
cooking  for  them  with  his  own  hands.  They  reached 
Fort  Providence  Dec.  11.  Letters  awaited  them  from 
England.  Franklin,  Back,  and  Hood  had  been  pro- 
moted, the  former  to  be  commander,  the  two  latter  to 
be  lieutenants.     Alas,  that  Hood's  had  come  too  late  ! 

Adam,  the  interpreter,  joined  himself  to  the  Copper 
Indians,  and  the  rest  of  the  party,  with  dogs  and  sledges, 
reached  York  Factory  on  the  Hudson  Bay,  July  14. 1822, 
having  made  by  land  and  water  one  of  the  most  perilous 
journeys  on  record,  of  five  thousand  five  hundred  and 
fifty  miles.  Franklin  reached  England  after  an  absence 
of  about  three  years.  He  was  immediately  made  a  Fel- 
low of  the  Roya]  Society  for  his  valuable  contributions 
to  science  in  the  way  of  exploration  and  discovery,  and 
was   honored  throughout  England    for   his   bravery.  Ins 


264  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN   AND   OTHERS. 

self-sacrifice,  and  heroic  character.  His  book,  published 
the  following  year,  modest,  clear,  and  most  interesting, 
was  widely  read. 

He  was  at  this  time,  says  one  of  his  relatives,  in 
expression,  "grave  and  mild,  and  very  benignant ;  his 
build,  thoroughly  that  of  a  sailor;  his  stature,  rather 
below  the  middle  height  ;  his  look,  very  kind,  and  his 
manner  very  quiet,  though  not  without  a  certain  dignity, 
as  of  one  accustomed  to  command  others."  He  had  also 
great  cheerfulness,  and  a  self-reliance  which  marked  him 
as  a  natural  leader  of  men. 

Commander  Parry  voiced  the  general  feeling  when  be 
wrote  him  :  "Of  the  splendid  achievements  of  yourself 
and  your  brave  companions  in  enterprise,  I  can  hardly 
trust  myself  to  speak,  for  I  am  apprehensive  of  not  con- 
veying what,  indeed,  can  never  be  conveyed  adequately 
in  words  —  my  unbounded  admiration  of  what  you  have, 
under  the  blessing  of  God,  been  enabled  to  perforin,  and 
the  manner  in  which  you  have  performed  it.  .  ,  .  In  you 
and  your  party,  my  dear  friend,  we  see  so  sublime  an 
instance  of  Christian  confidence  in  the  Almighty,  of  the 
superiority  of  moral  and  religious  energy  over  mere 
brute  strength  of  body,  that  it  is  impossible  to  contem- 
plate your  sufferings  and  preservation  without  a  sense 
of  reverential  awe  !  .  .  .  Your  letter  was  put  into  my 
hand  at  Shetland,  and  I  need  not  be  ashamed  to  say  that 
I  cried  over  it  like  a  child." 

Franklin  had  another  reason  for  happiness  and  grati- 
tude. He  had  won  the  heart  and  promise  of  marriage 
of  the  young  poet,  Eleanor  Anne  Porden.  She  had 
published  an  epic  poem  in  two  volumes  called  "Coeur  de 
Lion,"  and  a  scientific  poem  called  "  The  Veils,"  for 
which  she  was  made  a  member  of  the  Institute  of  Paris. 


Silt  JOHN   FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  265 

She  was  highly  esteemed,  and  drew  about  her  a  charm- 
ing circle  of  intellectual  men  and  women.  Once  when 
at  the  Royal  Institute  in  London  she  heard  some  one 
remark,  "  that  those  ladies  better  be  at  home  making 
puddings."  With  a  smile,  she  answered,  turning 
towards  him,  "  We  made  those  before  we  came  out !  " 

They  were  married  Aug.  19,  1823.  At  this  time  she 
was  twenty-six  years  of  age,  and  he  eleven  years  her 
senior,  being  thirty-seven.  Before  marriage  she  prom- 
ised him  never  to  deter  him  from  accepting  any  position 
of  hardship,  and  she  kept  her  word. 

The  next  year  their  only  child  was  born,  June  3,  1824, 
to  whom  was  given  the  name  of  her  mother,  Eleanor. 
Eight  months  afterwards  Franklin  was  leaving  the  bed- 
side of  a  dying  wife,  to  make  a  second  expedition  over 
the  same  starvation  route  which  he  had  taken  less  than 
three  years  before.  He  carried  with  him  a  flag,  a  silk 
Union  Jack,  wrought  by  her  fragile  hands  in  her  illness, 
with  strict  injunctions  that  it  should  not  be  unfolded 
till  he  was  in  the  Arctic  Sea.  She  urged  his  going,  but 
knew  that  the  good-by  was  final.  She  died  six  days  after 
his  departure. 

Captain  Parry  was  about  to  make  his  third  voyage  in 
search  of  the  North-west  Passage,  and  Captain  Franklin 
proposed  another  land  expedition  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Mackenzie  River,  when  one  part  of  the  company  should 
come  eastward  along  the  coast  to  the  Coppermine  River, 
and  the  other  part  should  explore  the  coast  to  the  west- 
ward. A  third  expedition,  under  Captain  Beechey,  was 
to  proceed  to  Kotzebue  Inlet  in  Bering  Strait,  with  the 
object  of  meeting  Franklin  as  he  journeyed  west  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Mackenzie  River,  while  Dr.  Richard- 
son, his  former  companion,  came  eastward. 


266  SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND    OTHERS. 

Franklin  and  his  party  left  England  Feb.  16,  1825, 
and  after  reaching  New  York,  travelled  through  the 
States  and  Canada,  arriving  at  the  Saskatchewan  Itiver, 
June  15.  He  had  already  heard  of  the  death  of  his 
lovely  young  wife. 

The  party  reached  Fort  Resolution  on  Great  Slave 
Lake,  July  29.  Here  they  .met  Humpey,  the  brother  of 
the  chief  Akaitcho,  and  some  other  prominent  Indians, 
who  shook  hands  with  Franklin,  pressing  his  hand  against 
their  hearts,  and  exclaiming,  "  How  much  we  regret 
that  we  cannot  tell  what  we  feel  for  you  here!"  On 
Aug.  2  they  entered  Mackenzie  River,  which  was  over 
two  miles  broad,  and  in  five  days  reached  Fort  Norman. 
Lieutenant  Back  of  the  previous  expedition,  and  Mr. 
Dease  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  were  commissioned 
to  proceed  to  Great  Bear  Lake,  east  of  the  river,  and 
build  a  house  for  the  winter.  Dr.  Richardson  was  to 
explore  the  northern  shore  of  the  lake.  Franklin  and 
Mr.  Kendall  (who  afterwards  married  Miss  Kay,  the 
niece  of  Mrs.  Franklin)  with  an  Eskimo  interpreter, 
Augustus,  of  the  former  voyage,  a  native  guide,  and  a 
crew  of  six  Englishmen,  sailed  towards  the  mouth  of  the 
Mackenzie. 

The  sea  was  reached  in  six  da}rs.  Here  Franklin  un- 
furled the  silken  flag  of  his  beloved  Eleanor.  He  wrote 
to  her  sister  :  "  Here  was  first  displayed  the  flag  which 
my  lamented  Eleanor  made,  and  you  can  imagine  it  was 
with  heartfelt  emotion  I  first  saw  it  unfurled ;  but  in  a 
short  time  I  derived  great  pleasure  in  looking  at  it." 

They  returned  to  the  winter  quarters,  which  had  been 
named  in  the  absence  of  the  commander  Fort  Franklin, 
and  passed  the  season  quite  comfortably.  They  exam- 
ined all  the  countrv  round,  and  made  scientific  observa- 


67 R   JOHN   FRANKLIN  AND    OTHERS.  267 

tions.  Franklin  wrote  Sir  R.  J.  Murchison  :  "  We  have 
got  Conybeare  and  Phillips,  Phillips  and  Jameson  on 
Mineralogy,  and  Humboldt  on  the  superposition  of 
rocks.  ...  I  have  been  delighted  with  Dante,  and  so 
have  my  companions  ;  but  I  must  confess  there  is  fre- 
quently a  depth  of  thought  and  reasoning  to  which  my 
mind  can  hardly  reach  —  perhaps  these  parts  will  be 
better  comprehended  on  re-perusal.  It  seems  clear 
that  Milton,  as  well  as  other  poets,  have  borrowed  ideas 
from  his  comprehensive  mind." 

Franklin  established  a  school  for  the  men  and  others 
in  camp,  which  the  officers  taught.  The  men  built  a 
large  boat  in  their  leisure  hours,  winch  was  called  the 
Reliance. 

In  early  summer  the  party  made  ready  for  travel. 
Late  in  May  the  white  anemones  blossomed  abundantly. 
Mosquitoes  became  "  vigorous  and  tormenting."  Four- 
teen men  under  Franklin  and  Back,  in  the  boats  Lion 
and  Reliance,  started  westward  on  the  seacoast  July  7, 
1826.  That  very  day  about  three  hundred  Eskimos 
in  their  little  canoes,  or  kayaks,  which  hold  one 
person  each,  gathered  about  them,  and  wished  to 
trade.  One  of  the  kayaks  was  overturned  and  its 
owner  plunged  headforemost  into  the  mud ;  but  he  was 
kindly  cared  for  by  Augustus,  the  Eskimo  interpreter, 
who  wrapped  him  in  his  own  great-coat.  The  man  and 
the  great-coat  disappeared  later. 

The  Eskimos  now  rushed  into  the  Lion  and  Reliance, 
stealing  all  they  could  lay  their  hands  upon,  and  hand- 
ing the  articles  to  the  women,  who  hid  them.  Two  or 
three  of  the  larger  Eskimos  grasped  Franklin  by  the 
wrists  and  forced  him  to  sit  between  them.  "The  third 
took  his  station  in  front  to  catch  my  arm  whenever  I 


268       sin  joiin  franklin  and  others. 

attempted  to  lift  my  gun,"  says  Franklin,  "  or  the 
broad  dagger  which  hung  by  my  side.  The  whole  way 
to  the  shore  they  kept  repeating  the  word  '  tei/ma,'  beat- 
ing gently  on  my  left  breast  with  their  hands,  and  press- 
ing mine  against  their  breasts.  As  we  nearedthe  beach, 
two  omiaks  [larger  boats  for  women  and  children]  full  of 
women  arrived,  and  the  teymas  and  vociferations  were 
redoubled." 

The  Eskimos  now  became  so  importunate  that  the 
crews  beat  them  off  with  the  large  ends  of  their  mus- 
kets, but  Franklin  had  given  orders  previously  that  no 
blood  should  be  shed.  Finally  they  got  away  from  the 
thieving  crowd.  "  I  am  still  of  opinion  that,  mingled  as 
we  were  with  them,"  said  the  commander,  "  the  first 
blood  we  had  shed  would  have  been  instantly  revenged 
by  the  sacrifice  of  all  our  lives."  Both  the  crews,  follow- 
ing the  example  of  their  leader,  had  shown  the  utmost 
coolness  as  well  as  bravery. 

Later  in  the  journey  they  met  Eskimos  who  wore 
pieces  of  bone  or  shells  in  their  noses,  and  on  each  side 
of  the  under  lip  circular  pieces  of  ivory  with  a  large 
blue  bead  in  the  centre.  When  unable  to  procure 
ivory,  stones  were  substituted. 

"  The  dress  of  the  women,"  writes  Franklin,  "  differed 
from  that  of  the  men  only  in  their  wearing  wide  trousers 
and  in  the  size  of  their  hoods,  which  do  not  fit  close  to 
the  head,  but  are  made  large  for  the  purpose  of  receiv- 
ing their  children.  These  are  ornamented  with  stripes 
of  different  colored  skins,  and  round  the  top  is  fastened 
a  band  of  wolf's  hair,  made  to  stand  erect.  Their  own 
black  hair  is  very  tastefully  turned  up  from  behind 
to  the  top  of  the  head,  and  tied  by  strings  of  white  and 
blue  beads,  or  cords  of  white  deer-skin.     It  is  divided  in 


SIR   JOHN   FRANKLIN  AND    OTHERS.  269 

front  so  as  to  form  on  each  side  a  thick  tail,  to  which 
are  appended  strings  of  beads  that  reach  to  the  waist. 
The  women  were  from  four  feet  and  a  half  to  four  and 
three-quarters  high,  and  generally  fat."  Lieutenant 
Back  sketched  one  of  these  women,  and  she  testified  her 
pleasure  by  smiles  and  jumps.  The  men  were  more 
sedate  about  their  portraits,  "  but  not  less  pleased  than 
the  women,"  says  the  journal  of  Franklin.  The  natives 
call  themselves  Inuits  —  not  Eskimos — from  the  word 
inuk,  meaning  a  man. 

The  weather  was  foggy  ;  they  were  detained  often  by 
ice,  and  finally,  when  about  half-way  to  Icy  Cape,  where 
Captain  Beechey  was  to  meet  them  on  his  way  up  from 
Bering  Strait,  Franklin  and  his  party,  seeing  that  they 
could  not  possibly  reach  Beechey  before  winter,  when 
all  would  probably  perish,  turned  back,  Aug.  18,  calling 
the  place  Return  Reef.  He  had  travelled  along  the  coast 
three  hundred  and  seventy-four  miles.  Captain  Beechey 
reached  Icy  Cape  the  middle  of  August,  one  hundred 
and  sixty  miles  from  the  point  where  Franklin  turned 
back. 

They  reached  Fort  Franklin  Sept.  21,  having  travelled 
2,048  miles  since  they  started.  They  found  that  Dr. 
Richardson  and  his  party  had  explored  the  coust  from  the 
Mackenzie  to  the  Coppermine  Rivers,  863  miles,  —  1,908 
miles  in  all,  by  land  and  water, — the  doctor  naming  a 
bay  which  they  discovered  Franklin  Bay,  saying,  as  he 
bestowed  the  name,  "  After  having  served  under  Captain 
Franklin  for  nearly  seven  years  in  two  successive  voyages 
of  discovery,  I  trust  I  may  be  allowed  to  say  that,  how- 
ever high  his  brother  officers  may  rate  his  courage  and 
talents,  either  in  the  ordinary  line  of  his  professional 
duty,  or  in  the  field  of  discovery,  the  hold  he  acquires 


270  SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

upon  the  affections  of  those  under  his  command,  by  a 
continual  series  of  the  most  conciliatory  attentions  to 
their  feelings,  and  an  uniform  and  unremitting  regard  to 
their  best  interests,  is  not  less  conspicuous."  Dr.  Rich- 
ardson had  gathered  valuable  geological  data  and  natural 
history  collections  with  Mr.  Drummond.  The  latter  had 
travelled  to  the  Eocky  Mountains,  and  endured  great 
hardships  in  the  journey.  In  a  solitary  hut  built  by 
himself  on  the  mountains,  he  collected  two  hundred 
specimens  of  birds  and  animals,  and  more  than  fifteen 
hundred  plants. 

Dr.  Richardson  made  a  careful  study  of  the  different 
tribes  which  he  met.  "  Among  the  Kutchin  tribe  the 
women,"  he  says,  "  in  winter  do  all  the  drudgery,  such  as 
collecting  the  firewood,  assisting  the  dogs  in  hauling  the 
sledge,  bringing  in  the  snow  to  melt  for  water,  and,  in 
fact,  perform  all  the  domestic  duties  except  cooking, 
which  is  the  man's  office ;  and  the  wives  do  not  eat  till 
the  husband  is  satisfied.  In  summer  the  women  labor 
little,  except  in  drying  meat  or  fish  for  its  preservation. 
The  men  alone  paddle,  while  the  women  sit  as  passen- 
gers ;  and  husbands  will  even  carry  their  wives  to  the 
shore  in  their  arms,  that  they  may  not  wet  their  feet." 

The  Tinne  tribe  do  not  altogether  preclude  women  from 
eating  with  men,  "  though  in  times  of  scarcity  the  man 
would  expect  to  be  first  fed,  as  it  is  a  maxim  with  them 
that  the  woman  who  cooks  can  be  well  sustained  by  lick- 
ing her  fingers." 

Yet,  says  Dr.  Richardson,  these  women  have  influence 
over  the  men,  "and  they  seldom  permit  provisions  or 
other  articles  to  be  disposed  of  without  expressing  their 
thoughts  on  the  matter  with  much  earnestness  and  volu- 
bility." 


SIR   JOHN   FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  271 

Some  tribes  have  a  unique  method  of  courtship. 
"Early  in  the  morning,"  says  Richardson,  "the  lover 
makes  his  appearance  at  the  abode  of  the  father  of  the 
object  of  his  choice,  and,  without  a  word  of  explanation, 
begins  to  heat  the  bath-room,  to  bring  in  water*,  and  to  pre- 
pare food.  Then  he  is  asked  who  he  is,  and  why  he  per- 
forms these  offices.  In  reply  he  expresses  his  wish  to 
have  the  daughter  for  a  wife ;  ...  he  remains  as  a 
servant  in  the  house  a  whole  year.  At  the  end  of  that 
time  he  receives  a  reward  for  his  services  from  the 
father,  and  takes  home  his  bride." 

Among  some  of  the  Eskimos,  as  in  North  Green- 
land, Kane  says,  the  bride  is  carried  off  by  force.  The 
girl  betrothed  to  Jens  was  carried  off  three  times,  but 
she  managed  to  keep  her  troth.  "In  the  result,"  says 
Kane,  "  Jens,  as  phlegmatic  and  stupid  a  half-breed  as  I 
ever  met  with,  got  the  prettiest  woman  in  all  North 
Greenland." 

The  whole  Franklin  party  wintered  again  atEort  Frank- 
lin, the  thermometer  being  sometimes  at  fifty-eight  below 
zero.  Feb.  20,  1827,  Franklin  started  homeward,  reach- 
ing England  Sept.  26,  1827,  after  an  absence  of  more  than 
two  years  and  seven  months. 

For  scientific  observations  and  exploration  of  over  a 
thousand  miles  of  the  unknown  coast  of  North  America 
Franklin  was  presented  with  the  gold  medal  of  the  Paris 
Geographical  Society,  valued  at  twelve  hundred  francs, 
for  "  the  most  important  acquisition  to  geographical 
knowledge  "  during  the  year.  Two  years  later,  April  29, 
1829,  he  was  knighted,  becoming  Sir  John  Franklin,  and 
in  the  following  July  received  the  honorary  degree  of 
D.C.L.  from  the  conservative  University  of  Oxford.  Later, 
in  1846,  he  was  elected  Correspondent  of  the  Institute  of 
France  in  the  Academy  of  Sciences. 


272  SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND    OTHERS. 

A  little  over  a  year  after  his  return  to  England,  Nov. 
5,  1828,  Franklin,  then  forty-two  years  old,  married  Jane 
Griffin,  thirty -six  years  of  age,  second  daughter  of  John 
.Griffin,  Esq.,  of  Bedford  Place,  London,  a  lady  of  fine 
intellect,  and  of  wealth,  and  a  helper  in  all  possible  ways. 
She  became  a  mother  to  the  only  child  of  Sir  John,  little 
Eleanor,  four  and  a  half  years  old. 

Meantime  Parry,  who  was  to  act  in  concert  with  Frank- 
lin if  they  came  near  to  each  other,  had  sailed  in  the 
Hecla  and  Fury  on  his  third  voyage  from  England,  May 
19,  1824,  some  months  before  Franklin.  They  passed 
through  Baffin's  Bay,  into  Lancaster  Sound ;  and  the  ice 
preventing  his  pushing  forward,  he  was  obliged  to  win- 
ter at  Port  Boven,  on  the  east  side  of  Prince  Regent  Inlet. 

This  was  his  third  winter  in  the  Arctic  regions.  "  All 
is  dreary  monotonous  Avhiteness,"  he  writes,  "  not  merely 
for  days  or  weeks,  but  for  more  than  half  a  year  to- 
gether. Whichever  way  the  eye  is  turned  it  meets  a 
picture  calculated  to  impress. upon  the  mind  an  idea  of 
inanimate  stillness,  of  that  motionless  torpor  with  which 
our  feelings  have  nothing  congenial ;  of  anything,  in 
short,  but  life.  In  the  very  silence  there  is  a  deadness 
with  which  a  human  spectator  appears  out  of  keeping. 
The  presence  of  man  seems  an  intrusion  on  the  dreary 
solitude  of  this  wintry  desert,  which  even  its  native  ani- 
mals have  for  awhile  forsaken." 

The  sun  was  absent  from  the  view  of  Parry  and  his  men 
for  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  days,  and  the  thermom- 
eter was  below  zero  for  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  days. 

They  did  not  break  out  of  the  ice  till  July  20,  and 
very  soon  after  the  Fury  went  to  pieces  on  the  shore. 
The  place  where  she  struck  was  called  Fury  Beach,  on 
the  east  side  of  Prince  Regent  Inlet;  and  her  provisions 


SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND    OTHERS.  273 

were  left  there,  while  her  officers  and  crew  went  back  to 
England  on  the  Hecla. 

Unsuccessful  in  finding  the  North-west  Passage,  Parry 
sailed  two  years  later,  on  his  fourth  voyage,  with  the  hope 
of  reaching  the  North  Pole.  He  left  England  April 
3,  1827,  and  reached  Spitzbergen  in  May,  when  two  boats, 
Enterprise  and  Endeavor,  left  the  ship  Hecla,  and  under 
Parry  and  Lieutenant  James  C.  Ross,  went  northward. 
After  a  toilsome  journey  of  978  geographical  miles  — 
1,127  statute  miles  —  over  ice-floes  and  through  deep 
snow,  travelling  at  night  on  account  of  snow-blindness, 
they  reached  latitude  82°  45',  a  higher  position  than  any 
other  navigator  at  that  time  had  attained,  and  then 
started  homeward,  arriving  in  England  at  nearly  the  same 
time  with  Franklin  from  his  American  coast-line  expe- 
dition in  1827. 

Little  more  was  done  by  the  government  for  some 
years  in  Arctic  research.  In  1829  the  Victory,  fitted  out 
by  Sir  Felix  Booth,  was  commanded  by  Sir  John  Ross 
and  his  nephew,  James  Ross,  for  the  discovery  of  the 
North-west  Passage.  Sir  Felix  gave  seventeen  thousand 
pounds  towards  the  enterprise,  and  Sir  John  Ross  three 
thousand  pounds. 

They  sailed  through  Lancaster  Sound  and  into  Prince 
Regent  Inlet,  where,  after  examining  three  hundred 
miles  of  undiscovered  coast,  they  went  into  winter  quar- 
ters at  Felix  Harbor  on  the  east  coast  of  Boothia  in 
Boothia  Gulf.  The  next  year  they  made  several  sledge 
journeys,  one  to  King  William  Island,  which  land  has 
since  possessed  a  melancholy  history.  They  named  the 
northern  point  Cape  Felix,  and  twenty  miles  to  the 
south-west  Victory  Point,  from  which  place  they  returned 
to   their   ship.       Six    of    their    eight    dogs    were    dead 


274  SIR  JOUN   FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

from  exhaustion,  and  they  themselves  were  nearly 
famished. 

After  a  second  winter  in  the  ship,  James  Boss  discov- 
ered the  position  of  the  North  Magnetic  Pole  on  the 
western  shore  of  Boothia,  in  latitude  70°  5'  17  "  in  the 
spring,  and  other  journeys  were  made.  The  ship  was 
still  locked  in  the  ice,  and  they  spent  a  third  winter 
upon  her. 

They  determined  at  last  to  abandon  her,  knowing  that 
they  could  not  survive  much  longer.  Scurvy  had  broken 
out,  and  some  had  died.     They  left  the  ship  April  23, 

1832,  and  went  northward  through  Prince  Regent  Inlet, 
hoping  to  be  saved  by  some  whaling-vessel,  but  none  ap- 
pearing they  were  obliged  to  return  and  winter  as  best 
they  could  at  Fury  Beach,  and  live  on  the  provisions  left 
by  Parry,  when  the  Fury  was  wrecked  in  the  summer  of 
1825,  seven  years  before. 

After  the  fourth  winter  "  their  situation,"  writes  Eoss, 
"  was  becoming  truly  awful,  since,  if  they  were  not  lib- 
erated in  the  ensuing  summer,  little  prospect  appeared  of 
their  surviving  another  year.  It  was  necessary  to  make 
a  reduction  in  the  allowance  of  preserved  meats ;  bread 
was  somewhat  deficient,  and  the  stock  of  wine  and  spirits 
was  entirely  exhausted."  As  early  in  the  summer  as 
possible  they  worked  their  way  to  Lancaster  Sound, 
where  they  were  finally  picked  up  by  the  whaler,  Isa- 
bella. Eoss  had  some  difficulty  in  making  his  story  be- 
lieved on  board,  as  he  had  been  reported  dead  two  years 
before.  Their  arrival  in  England  in  the  autumn  of  1833 
was  hailed  with  great  joy. 

In  the  spring  of  the  year  in  which  they  were  rescued, 

1833,  Captain  George  Back,  who  had  served  so  heroically 
under  Franklin,  undertook  a  search  expedition   for  the 


SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  2iO 

missing  navigator,  Sir  John  Ross.  The  company  crossed 
over  from  Hudson  Bay,  arriving  at  Fort  Resolution,  on 
Great  Slave  Lake,  Aug.  8.  They  suffered  greatly  from 
sand- flies  and  mosquitoes.  "  It  is  in  vain,"  says  Back  in 
his  account  of  his  journey,  "  to  attempt  to  defend  yourself 
against  these  puny  bloodsuckers  :  though  you  crush  thou- 
sands of  them,  tens  of  thousands  arise  to  avenge  the  death 
of  their  companions,  and  you  very  soon  discover  that  the 
conflict  which  you  are  waging  is  one  in  which  you  are  sure 
to  be  defeated.  So  great  at  last  are  the  pains  and  fatigue 
in  buffeting  away  this  attacking  force,  that  in  despair 
you  throw  yourself,  half-suffocated,  in  a  blanket,  with 
your  face  upon  the  ground,  and  snatch  a  few  minutes  of 
sleepless  rest.  ...  As  we  dived  into  the  confined  and 
suffocating  chasms,  or  waded  through  the  close  swamps, 
they  rose  in  clouds,  actually  darkening  the  air.  To  see 
or  to  speak  was  equally  difficult,  for  they  rushed  at 
every  undefended  part,  and  fixed  their  poisonous  fangs 
in  an  instant.  Our  faces  streamed  with  blood,  as  if 
leeches  had  been  applied." 

Back  and  his  company  determined  to  reach  the  sea  by 
one  of  the  unexplored  rivers,  the  existence  of  which  was 
known,  but  nothing  of  its  source  or  character.  They 
passed  the  winter  on  Great  Slave  Lake,  at  Fort  Reliance. 

Bands  of  starving  Indians  lingered  about  them,  as 
they  could  obtain  nothing  by  hunting,  and  hoped  for 
relief  from  the  white  men.  They  would  watch  every 
mouthful  taken  by  the  men  at  their  meals,  but  utter  no 
word  of  complaint.  It  was  impossible  to  give  relief  to 
all,  but  even  small  portions  of  mouldy  pemican,  which 
had  been  saved  for  the  dogs,  were  gratefully  received. 

"Famine  with  her  gaunt  and  bony  arm,"  says  Back, 
"pursued  them  at  every  turn,  withered   their  energies, 


276  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND    OTHERS. 

and  strewed  them  lifeless  on  the  cold  bosom  of  the 
snow.  .  .  .  Often  did  I  share  my  own  plate  with  the  chil- 
dren whose  helpless  state  and  piteous  cries  were  pecu- 
liarly distressing.  Compassion  for  the  full-grown  may, 
or  may  not,  be  felt,  but  that  heart  must  be  cased  in  steel 
which  is  insensible  to  the  cry  of  a  child  for  food." 

The  food  of  the  white  men  finally  became  so  reduced 
that  it  is  doubtful  if  they  would  have  survived  had  it 
not  been  for  Akaitcho,  the  chief,  who  brought  them  some 
meat.  He  said,  "  The  great  chief  trusts  in  us,  and  it  is 
better  that  ten  Indians  perish  than  that  one  white  man 
should  perish  through  our  negligence  and  breach  of  faith." 

Augustus,  the  Eskimo  interpreter,  hearing  that  Cap- 
tain Back  was  again  in  the  country,  set  out  on  foot 
from  Hudson  Bay  to  join  him;  but  either  exhausted  by 
the  journey,  or  starved,  or  frozen  in  the  blinding  storms, 
he  never  reached  Back,  for  his  bleached  body  was  found 
on  the  way  afterwards.  He  was  "  a  faithful,  disinter- 
ested, kind-hearted  creature,"  said  Back,  "  who  had  won 
the  regard,  not  of  myself  only,  but,  I  may  add,  of  Sir  J. 
Franklin  and  Dr.  Richardson  also." 

Tne  winter  passed  at  Fort  Reliance  was  cold  in  the 
extreme,  the  weather  seventy  degrees  below  zero,  and 
even  lower.  "  With  eight  logs  of  dry  wood  on  the  fire," 
says  Back,  "  I  could  not  get  the  thermometer  higher  than 
twelve  degrees  below  zero.  Ink  and  paint  froze.  The 
skin  of  the  hands  became  dry,  cracked,  and  opened  into 
unsightly  and  smarting  gashes,  which  we  were  obliged 
to  anoint  with  grease.  On  one  occasion,  after  washing 
my  face  within  three  feet  of  the  fire,  my  hair  was  clotted 
with  ice  before  I  had  time  to  dry  it." 

Towards  the  end  of  April,  as  the  company  were  pre- 
paring for  the  search,  the  welcome  news  came  that  Ross 


SIR   JOHN   FRANKLIN   AND   OTHERS.  277 

and  his  men  had  been  saved  by  the  Isabella.  Now  that 
they  were  in  the  wilds  of  North  America,  they  were 
obliged,  however,  to  push  on  their  explorations. 

On  July  8,  with  their  boat-load  of  provisions  and  ten 
persons,  they  proceeded  to  sail  down  the  Great  Fish 
River,  which  they  found  abounding  in  rapids  and  bowl- 
ders, —  five  large  rapids  in  a  distance  of  three  miles,  —  a 
river  five  hundred  and  thirty  geographical  miles  in 
length,  broadening  out  into  five  large  lakes,  without  a 
single  tree  on  the  whole  line  of  its  banks. 

On  their  return  up  the  river  they  again  wintered  at 
Fort  Reliance,  and  returned  to  England  Sept.  8,  1835, 
after  an  absence  of  two  years  and  a  half.  Back  was 
knighted,  becoming  Sir  George  Back,  and  given  the 
gold  medal  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  for  dis- 
covering the  Great  Fish  River,  which  thereafter  bore 
his  name,  and  navigating  it  to  the  Arctic  Sea.  Back's 
Great  Fish  River  has  a  mournful  history  in  connection 
with  Sir  John  Franklin,  and  will  always  be  pathetically 
associated  with  King  William  Island. 

All  this  time  Sir  John  Franklin  was  not  idle.  In 
1830,  Aug.  23,  he  was  appointed  to  the  command  of 
the  twenty-six-gun  frigate  Rainbow,  for  service  in  the 
Mediterranean.  So  well  beloved  was  he  by  his  men, 
that  the  ship  was  called  the  Celestial  Rainbow,  and  the 
sailors  named  her  Franklin's  Paradise. 

As  by  the  rules  of  the  navy  his  wife  could  not  be  in 
the  ship  with  him,  she  travelled  with  friends  in  Syria, 
Palestine,  and  Egypt,  rejoining  him  when  he  was  sta- 
tioned at  any  city.  She  had  already  travelled  exten- 
sively in  Europe  with  her  father. 

Franklin  exerted  great  influence  in  the  troubled  condi- 
tion of  Greece  at  this  time.     He  was  frequently  called 


278  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN   AND  OTHERS. 

upon  to  help  preserve  order  and  to  protect  the  inhabit- 
ants. For  his  services  during  the  War  of  Liberation 
he  was  made  a  Knight  of  the  Redeemer  of  Greece,  by 
King  Otho,  and  a  Knight  Commander  of  the  Guelphic 
Order  of  Hanover,  by  England. 

"  To  your  calm  and  steady  conduct  may  be  attributed 
the  preservation  of  the  town  and  inhabitants  of  Patras," 
wrote  Admiral  Sir  H.  Hotham  to  Franklin,  "  the  pro- 
tection of  commerce,  and  the  advancement  of  the  benev- 
olent intentions  of  the  Allied  Sovereigns  in  favor  of  the 
Greek  nation." 

After  this  he  was  offered  the  Lieutenant-Governorship 
of  Van  Diemen's  Land,  now  Tasmania,  and  accepted 
with  permission  to  resign  in  case  of  war.  He  and  Lady 
Franklin,  with  Eleanor,  now  thirteen  years  old,  and  a 
favorite  niece  of  Lady  Franklin,  Miss  Sophia  Cracroft, 
sailed  in  the  ship  Fairlee,  reaching  Hobart  Town  in 
January,  1837.  No  sooner  was  Franklin  established  in 
his  home  than  he  began  to  devise  projects  for  the  good 
of  the  people  under  his  control.  He  begged  the  Home 
Government  for  a  charter  for  a  large  college.  On  the 
recommendation  of  Dr.  Arnold  of  Rugby,  Rev.  J.  P. 
Gell  was  sent  out  from  England  to  organize  such  an 
institution.  The  Legislative  Council  voted  £2,500  to 
begin  the  matter,  and  the  corner-stone  was  laid  by  Sir 
John  at  Norfolk  House,  Nov.  7,  1840. 

Quarrels  by  different  religious  denominations  and 
local  jealousies,  some  wishing  the  college  to  be  built  at 
Hobart  Town,  made  the  Imperial  Government  withdraw 
its  support,  and  the  college  had  to  be  given  up.  Mr. 
Gell,  however,  established  an  excellent  school  at  Hobart 
Town,  to  which  Lady  Franklin  gave  four  hundred  acres 
of  land  and  Sir  John  contributed  five  hundred  pounds. 


SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN   AND    OTHERS.  279 

Mr.  Gell  afterwards  married  Eleanor,  the  only  child  of  Sir 
John,  who  died  in  1860,  when  her  husband  was  vicar  of 
St.  John's,  dotting  Hill. 

Sir  John  founded  a  Scientific  Society  at  Hobart  Town, 
which  is  now  the  Royal  Society  of  Tasmania.  Its  object 
was  to  treat  of  natural  history,  agriculture,  and  the  like. 
The  papers  contributed  by  the  members  were  published 
at  his  expense.  He  also  built  the  Tasmania  Museum,  to 
contain  collections  made  in  natural  history.  He  raised 
a  monument  in  South  Australia,  in  conjunction  with  the 
government  there,  to  his  old  friend  Captain  Flinders, 
with  whom  in  his  youth  he  had  helped  to  explore  the 
Australian  coast.  It  is  a  granite  obelisk,  placed  on  a 
high  hill,  and  is  a  landmark  for  sailors.  It  was  char- 
acteristic of  Franklin  that  he  never  forgot  a  friend. 
Franklin  gave  much  attention  to  surveys  and  explo- 
rations, and  looked  carefully  after  the  welfare  of  the 
convicts,  there  being  a  very  large  penal  settlement 
near  Hobart  Town.  Lady  Franklin  also  took  the  deep- 
est interest  in  the  convicts.  She  corresponded  with 
Elizabeth  Fry,  about  the  women.  She  bought  large 
tracts  of  land,  on  which  she  established  immigrants, 
paying  all  their  first  expenses,  providing  implements 
for  work,  charging  a  nominal  rent  for  the  land,  and 
giving  the  opportunity  of  purchase.  At  the  end  of 
three  years  many  had  paid  all  their  indebtedness. 

When  the  ships  Erebus  and  Terror,  in  1839,  —  the 
same  ships  in  which  Sir  John  sailed  later  in  his  last 
expedition  to  the  Arctic  Sea,  —  were  sent  under  Sir 
James  Ross  to  the  Antarctic  continent  for  magnetic  ob- 
servations, Sir  John  rendered  very  valuable  assistance, 
superintending  the  creation  of  the  magnetic  observatory 
in    Tasmania,  and    making   many  of   the   observations. 


280  SIB  JOHN   FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

The  observatory  was  later  put  in  charge  of   Franklin's 
nephew,  Lieutenant  Kay. 

The  Erebus  and  Terror  were  absent  from  England 
four  years  in  the  Antarctic  seas,  making  valuable  contri- 
butions to  our  knowledge  of  that  still,  for  the  most  part, 
unknown  world.  The  ship  Terror  was  commanded  by 
the  lamented  Captain  F.  R.  M.  Crozier.  Only  a  little 
time  before  she  had  crossed  the  ocean  under  Captain 
Back,  still  in  search  of  the  North-west  Passage,  had 
reached  Salisbury  Island  in  Hudson's  Strait,  been  frozen 
in  off  Cape  Comfort  in  Fox  Channel,  and  was  driven 
about  from  September  to  March,  at  the  mercy  of  gales 
and  ice  floes,  and  finally  went  back  in  a  sinking  condi- 
tion to  England  where  she  was  thoroughly  repaired. 

After  being  Governor  in  Tasmania  for  over  six  and  a 
half  years,  Franklin  returned  to  England  on  account  of 
jealousies  of  those  under  him,  and  consequent  disaffec- 
tion. Some  officers  had  been  removed  for  "obstinacy  of 
temper,"  and  injustice  in  police  matters,  and  this  also 
caused  ill  feeling.  The  greatest  crowd  ever  seen  in  the 
colony,  headed  by  the  Bishop  of  Tasmania,  followed 
him  and  his  family  to  the  ship,  and  bade  him  a 
tearful  good-by.  He  was  greatly  beloved  by  the  people 
of  Hobart  Town,  who  have  erected  a  statue  in  his  honor, 
and  who  gave  £1,700  to  Lady  Franklin  to  help  in  the 
search  for  him  after  his  last  Arctic  voyage. 

Nearly  the  whole  northern  line  of  seacoast  in  North 
America  had  now  been  surveyed ;  and  all  that  was  want- 
ing to  complete  the  North-west  Passage  was  a  space 
north  and  south  of  about  three  hundred  miles  between 
Barrow  Strait,  beyond  Lancaster  Sound,  and  Simpson's 
Strait,  at  the  southern  extremity  of  King  William 
Island.     It  was  hoped  that  it  was  a  channel  navigable 


SIB   JOHN   FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  281 

for  ships,  but  nobody  knew.  Franklin  used  to  point  on 
the  map  to  Simpson's  Strait  and  say,  "  If  I  can  but  get 
down  there,  my  work  is  done  ;  thence  it  's  plain  sailing 
to  the  westward." 

When  the  subject  of  another  Arctic  expedition  was 
agitated,  Sir  John  asked  to  lead  it,  on  the  ground  that 
he  was  the  senior  Arctic  officer  alive  who  was  free  to  take 
the  place,  and  had  explored  more  in  North  America  than 
any  other  one  person.  Lord  Haddington,  First  Lord  of 
the  Admiralty,  remarked  to  Sir  Edward  Parry,  the  navi- 
gator, "  Franklin  is  sixty  years  old.  Ought  we  to  let 
him  go  ?  " 

"  My  lord,"  answered  Parry,  "  he  is  the  best  man  I 
know  for  the  post ;  and  if  you  don't  let  him  go,  he  will, 
I  am  certain,  die  of  disappointment." 

Afterward  Lord  Haddington  said  to  Sir  John,  that  as 
he  had  already  done  so  nobly  for  his  country,  he  might 
be  inclined  to  let  a  younger  man  take  his  place,  as  he 
was  now  sixty  years  of  age. 

"No,  my  lord,"  was  Franklin's  ardent  response;  "you 
have  been  misinformed  —  I  am  only  fifty -nine  ! " 

He  said  also,  "  No  service  is  nearer  to  my  heart  than  the 
completion  of  the  survey  of  the  north  coast  of  America 
and  the  accomplishment  of  a  north-west  passage." 

The  ships  Erebus  and  Terror  were  made  ready  for  the 
voyage,  Franklin  in  command  of  the  Erebus,  and  his 
second  officer,  Captain  F.  R.  M.  Crozier,  in  command  of  the 
Terror.  Commander  James  Fitzjames  was  second  in 
the  Erebus  under  Franklin.  Dr.  II.  D.  S.  Goodsir.  assist- 
ant surgeon,  was  an  eminent  naturalist  on  the  Erebus. 
He  succeeded  his  brother  John  (Professor  of  Anatomy 
in  the  Edinburgh  University)  in  the  curatorship  of  the 
Royal  College  of  Surgeons,  and  resigned  to   go  in  the 


282  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

Erebus  for  scientific  investigation  in  the  Arctic  regions. 
His  younger  brother,  Robert,  twice  visited  the  Polar  seas 
in  search  of  his  brother,  Dr.  Goodsh',  who  perished  with 
Sir  John. 

Captain  Crozier,  Fellow  Royal  Society,  now  forty-eight, 
had  been  with  Parry  in  three  polar  voyages,  with  Sir 
J;uues  Ross,  both  in  the  Arctic  and  the  Antarctic  Seas, 
and  was  especially  skilled  in  the  science  of  terrestrial 
magnetism.  Rear-Admiral  McClintoek  says  his  "  noble- 
ness of  character  and  warmth  of  heart  had  ever  won  for 
him  universal  esteem  and  affection.'' 

Captain  Fitzjames,  "  an  able,  popular,  and  accomplished 
officer,"  says  Captain  Markham,  had  distinguished  him- 
self in  the  Syrian  campaign  of  1840.  In  the  Chinese 
hostilities  of  1842  he  was  five  times  gazetted  for  brave 
conduct.  He  received  four  bullet  wounds  at  the  capture 
of  Ching-Kiang-Foo,  one  bullet  passing  through  his  body. 
His  sketches  and  his  writings  both  showed  him  to  be 
a  man  of  marked  talent. 

Commander  Graham  Gore,  First  Lieutenant  of  the 
Erebus,  was  with  Admiral  Sir  George  Back  in  the  Arctic 
voyage  of  the  Terror  in  183G,  and  present  at  the  capture 
of  Aden  in  1839.  He  was  even  in  temper  and  of  great 
stability  of  character. 

Lieutenant  John  Irving  of  the  Terror  had  spent  several 
years  in  Australia,  and  had  served  in  the  navy  for  sev- 
enteen years.     He  was  a  talented  draftsman. 

Lieutenant  H.  T.  D.  Le  Vesconte,  of  the  Erebus,  served 
with  distinction  in  the  Chinese  war,  and  was  made  lieu- 
tenant for  his  bravery. 

Lieutenant  Charles  F.  des  Voeux,  mate  of  the  Erebus, 
had  served  in  the  Syrian  war  of  1840,  under  Sir  Charles 
Napier.     These  have  been  mentioned  among  other  able 


SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND    OTHERS.  283 

officers  because  their  names  will  appear  again  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  voyage. 

The  Erebus  and  Terror  had  on  board  twenty-three 
officers  and  one  hundred  and  eleven  men  —  in  all  one 
hundred  and  thirty-four  persons.  The  ships  carried  pro- 
visions for  three  years. 

They  left  England  May  19,  1845,  all  in  good  spirits. 
Fitzjames  wrote  home  to  the  son  of  Sir  John  Barrow  : 
"  Sir  John  Franklin  is  delightful,  active,  and  energetic, 
and  evidently  even  now  persevering.  What  he  has  been 
we  all  know.  I  think  it  will  turn  out  that  he  is  in  no 
way  altered.  He  is  full  of  conversation  and  interesting 
anecdotes  of  his  former  voyages.  I  would  not  lose  him 
for  the  command  of  the  expedition  ;  for  I  have  a  real 
regard,  I  might  say  affection,  for  him,  and  believe  this  is 
felt  by  all  of  us." 

Again  he  wrote  :  "  Of  all  men  he  is  the  most  fitted 
for  the  command  of  an  enterprise  requiring  sound  sense 
and  great  perseverance.  I  have  learnt  much  from  him, 
and  consider  myself  most  fortunate  in  being  with  such  a 
man,  and  he  is  full  of  benevolence  and  kindness  withal." 

Later  he  wrote  of  Sir  John's  disbelief  in  an  open  Polar 
Sea:  "He  also  said  he  believed  it  to  be  possible  to 
reach  the  pole  over  the  ice,  by  wintering  at  Spitzbergen, 
and  going  in  the  spring  before  the  ice  broke  up  and 
drifted  to  the  south,  as  it  did  with  Parry  on  it." 

Captain  Crozier  wrote  home,  — one  of  the  last  letters 
ever  received  from  the  expedition, — when  they  had 
reached  the  Whale  Fish  Islands,  July  4,  near  the  island 
of  Disco,  on  the  west  coast  of  Queenland  :  "  All  is  get- 
ting on  as  well  as  I  could  wish.  Officers  full  of  youth 
and  zeal,  and,  indeed,  everything  going  on  most  smoothly. 
...  If  we  can  do  something  worthy  of  the  country  which 


284  SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

has  so  munificently  fitted  us  out,  I  will  only  be  too 
happy ;  it  will  be  an  ample  reward  for  all  my  anxieties, 
and  believe  me,  Henry,  there  will  be  no  lack  of  them." 

The  ships  sailed  from  the  Whale  Fish  Islands  on  July 
10.  On  July  26  they  were  seen  by  Captain  Dannet,  of 
the  Prince  of  Wales,  a  whaler  from  Hull,  made  fast  to 
the  ice  in  Melville  Bay,  on  the  west  coast  of  Greenland. 
This  is  the  last  date  on  which  the  ships  were  ever  seen, 
so  far  as  is  known. 

They  sailed  on,  as  later  years  have  shown  by  the  dis- 
coveries, through  Baffin's  Bay  into  Lancaster  Sound. 
Unable  to  go  westward  into  Barrow  Strait,  probably  at 
that  time  on  account  of  ice,  they  went  northward  up 
Wellington  Channel.  After  going  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  they  were  compelled  to  return  through  a  newly 
discovered  channel  to  the  west,  separating  Cornwallis 
and  Bathurst  Islands,  and  leading  into  Barrow  Strait. 
They  spent  the  winter  on  Beechey  Island,  a  little  towards 
the  east,  at  the  entrance  of  Wellington  Channel.  They 
had  already  explored  three  hundred  miles  of  new  coast- 
line. Three  of  their  men  died  that  winter ;  and  their 
graves,  found  five  years  afterwards,  revealed  the  fact 
that  they  had  wintered  there.  The  next  summer,  1846, 
they  must  have  pushed  their  way  down  Peel  Strait,  be- 
tween North  Somerset  and  Prince  of  Wales  Land,  lead- 
ing towards  Simpson's  Strait.  They  passed  Boothia 
Felix,  and  when  within  twelve  miles  of  King  William 
Island,  Sept.  12,  1816,  both  ships  were  held  fast  in  the 
ice.  They  spent  this  winter  not  so  happily  as  the  pre- 
vious one,  and  the  summer  of  1847  came  ;  still  the  ves- 
sels remained  hoplessly  beset  by  the  ice.  This  second 
summer  must  have  been  a  sad  and  weary  one. 

We   now  know  that  on  Monday,  May  24,  1847,  two 


SIR   JOHN   FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  285 

officers,  Gore  and  Des  Voeux,  with  six  men,  left  the  ships 
to  explore  the  country,  and  probably  went  down  the  west 
coast  of  King  William  Island,  towards  Cape  Herschel, 
where  they  would  look  upon  Simpson's  Strait,  and  know 
that  the  North-west  Passage  was  found,  though  their 
ships  could  not  yet  sail  through  the  ninety  miles  of  ice 
to  the  strait. 

Sir  John  Franklin,  the  beloved  leader,  died  this  sum- 
mer, June  11,  1817.  Where  he  was  buried  we  shall 
never  know  ;  probably  a  hole  was  cut  in  the  ice  not  far 
from  the  ships,  and  thither  the  mourning  party  bore 
him. 

Sickness  and  death  began  now  to  thin  their  ranks. 
They  hoped  that  the  sun  this  summer  would  certainly 
free  the  ships ;  but  though  it  did  not,  the  ice  in  which 
they  were  packed  began  to  move  toward  the  south.  This 
was  indeed  comforting,  when  lo !  as  autumn  came  on,  it 
ceased  to  move,  and  they  were  ice-locked  as  before,  per- 
haps not  more  than  sixty  miles  from  the  desired  haven 
of  Simpson's  Strait  and  the  North-west  Passage. 

The  third  long  winter  dragged  by.  Commander  Gore 
and  eight  other  officers  died,  and  twelve  men,  twenty-one 
in  all,  so  that  there  were  one  hundred  and  five  left. 
When  spring  came  they  were  sure  that  their  only  chance 
for  life  was  to  abandon  the  ships,  and  perhaps  reach 
some  post  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company. 

They  left  the  ships  April  22,  1818,  and  journeyed 
with  a  couple  of  boats  on  sledges,  Crozier  and  Fitzjames 
at  the  head,  to  Point  Victory,  fifteen  miles  from  the 
ships.  They  were  three  days  in  taking  this  short  journey, 
whether  from  the  deep  snow  or  on  account  of  their  own 
weak  bodies,  will  never  be  known.  On  April  2G  they 
started  across  King  William  Island,  for  Back's  Groat 


286  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

Fish  River.  Only  their  bones,  scattered  all  over  the 
western  and  southern  parts  of  the  island  and  the  adja- 
cent mainland,  tell  the  horrors  of  that  dreadful  march, 
one  of  the  saddest  stories  to  be  found  in  history. 

After  Franklin  and  his  ships  had  been  absent  for  two 
years,  having  left  England  May  19,  1845,  people  began 
to  be  anxious  about  their  safety.  It  was  remembered 
that  they  had  provisions  for  three  years  only,  and  it 
would  probably  require  a  year  for  other  ships  to  reach 
them. 

In  the  summer  of  1847  arrangements  were  made  for 
the  Hudson  Bay  Company  to  send  to  their  northern- 
most stations  food  for  one  hundred  and  twenty  men 
for  seventy -five  days,  so  that  the  crews,  if  they  had 
abandoned  their  ships,  might  receive  it.  Alas!  that  it 
had  not  been  pushed  forward  to  where  the  men  were  sta- 
tioned, too  weak  to  come  to  the  food. 

In  1849  the  government  offered  a  reward  of  twenty 
thousand  pounds  to  any  one  of  any  nation  who  should 
rescue  the  lost  men  ;  ten  thousand  pounds  to  any  who 
should  rescue  a  part  of  them  ;  or  ten  thousand  pounds 
to  any  who  should  ascertain  their  fate.  Lady  Franklin 
offered  three  thousand  pounds  to  anybody  who  should  give 
reliable  information  concerning  them,  dead  or  alive. 

Already  relief  expeditions  had  been  fitted  out ;  June 
12,  1848,  one  under  Sir  James  Clarke  Ross,  with  the 
ships  Enterprise  and  Investigator,  to  search  the  north 
and  west  coasts  of  North  Somerset  and  Boothia, 
north  shore  of  Barrow  Strait,  and  the  shores  of  Prince 
Regent  Inlet.  The  first  winter,  at  the  juncture  of 
Barrow  Strait,  Lancaster  Sound,  Prince  Regent  Inlet, 
and  Wellington  Channel,  they  caught  fifty  white  foxes 
in   traps    made    of   empty   casks,  and    putting   copper 


SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN   AND    OTHERS.  287 

collars  around  their  necks  on  which  collars  the  position 
of  the  relief  ship  was  engraved,  freed  them,  with  the 
hope  that  some  might  be  caught  by  the  crews  of  the 
Erebus  ami  Terror.  After  excursions  made  all  summer, 
without  avail,  —  they  were  at  one  time  but  three  hundred 
miles  from  the  point  where  the  Erebus  and  Terror  lay 
abandoned,  —  a  house  was  built  of  the  spare  spars  of  both 
ships,  twelve  months'  provisions  with  fuel  Avere  left  be- 
hind, and  a  vessel  large  enough  to  convey  Franklin's 
whole  party  to  some  whaling-vessel. 

The  ships  were  now  caught  in  the  ice  pack,  and  from 
Sept.  1  to  25  were  floated  through  Lancaster  Sound  to 
the  western  shore  of  Baffin's  Bay,  when  the  pack  broke 
up,  and  the  men  hastened  to  England,  thankful  for  their 
preservation. 

Sir  John  Richardson,  who  had  been  with  Franklin  in 
both  his  land  expeditions,  started  in  1848  to  search  the 
coasts  of  North  America  between  the  Mackenzie  and 
Coppermine  Rivers,  and  returned  the  following  year, 
1849,  after  having  left  provisions  at  various  points 
though  he  heard  nothing  of  the  lost  ships. 

On  the  return  of  the  Enterprise  and  the  Investigator 
under  Sir  James  Ross,  they  were  at  once  refitted  and 
sent,  under  Captain  Richard  Collinson  and  Commander 
Robert  M'Clure  (who  had  served  with  Back  in  the  Terror 
in  183G),  through  Bering  Strait  to  investigate  Wollaston, 
Victoria  and  Banks'  Lands,  and  Melville  Island.  Collin- 
son passed  within  twenty  miles  of  the  Erebus  and 
Terror  in  their  ice  prison.  The  Investigator,  under 
M'Clure,  sailed  through  Prince  of  Wales  Strait,  between 
Banks'  Land  and  Prince  Albert  Land  (wintering  in  the 
Strait  in  1850)  into  Melville  Sound,  also  round  the  west 
and   north  coasts  of   Banks'  Land,  through  Banks'  Strait 


288  SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

into  Melville  Sound.  They  passed  two  winters  frozen 
into  the  ice  in  the  Bay  of  God's  Mercy  on  the  northern 
shore  of  Banks'  Land,  when  they  were  rescued  by  a 
sledge  party  from  the  Resolute  under  Captain  Austin. 
They  abandoned  the  Investigator,  and  were  taken  to 
England,  after  a  fourth  winter  in  the  Arctic  regions,  by 
the  ship  Phoenix.  They  had  thus  made  the  north-west 
passage  from  the  Pacific  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  (as 
Melville  Sound  connects  with  Barrow  Strait).  M'Clure 
and  his  crew  received  the  ten  thousand  pounds  offered 
by  the  government  for  the  discovery.  It  was  afterwards 
ascertained  that  Franklin's  men  actually  reached  Simp- 
son's Strait ;  therefore  to  Franklin  has  been  awarded 
the  honor  of  first  discovering  the  North-west  Passage. 

The  Resolute  and  Assistance,  under  Captains  Austin 
and  Ommanejr,  respectively,  were  sent  to  the  shores  of 
Wellington  Channel  and  the  coasts  of  Melville  and 
Parry  Islands.  The  latter  ship  was  abandoned ;  and  the 
former  was  picked  up  at  sea  by  Captain  James  Budding- 
ton  of  New  London,  Conn.,  brought  to  the  United  States, 
and  presented  to  England  by  a  joint  resolution  of  Con- 
gress, Aug.  28,  1856.  The  gift  was  tendered  to  the 
Queen  in  person  by  Captain  Hartstene,  who  afterwards 
rescued  Dr.  Kane.  The  different  searching  parties, 
under  Captain  Austin,  examined  fifteen  hundred  miles 
of  coast  line,  of  which  eight  hundred  and  fifty  had  not 
been  known  before.  One  of  the  parties,  under  Lieuten- 
ant Brown,  explored  the  western  shore  of  Peel  Strait, 
and  was  within  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  the  place 
where  the  Erebus  and  Terror  were  abandoned ;  but  they, 
of  course,  did  not  know  that  they  were  on  the  direct 
route  followed  by  Franklin.  It  was  most  unfortunate 
that   no   cairns  —  heaps    of    stones    with    letters   under 


SIR   JOHN   FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  289 

them  —  had  been  placed  along  their  route,  else  possibly 
their  bodies,  at  least,  might  have  been  recovered. 

Several  expeditions  were  fitted  out  at  private  expense. 
Admiral  Sir  John  Eoss,  then  in  his  seventy -fourth  year, 
went  out  in  the  Felix,  with  his  own  yacht,  the  Mary,  of 
twelve  tons,  as  tender,  and  searched  a  portion  of  Corn- 
wall is  Island,  west  of  Wellington  Channel. 

Lady  Franklin  equipped,  largely  at  her  own  expense, 
the  ninety-ton  schooner  Prince  Albert,  under  Comman- 
der Forsyth,  to  explore  the  shores  of  Prince  Regent 
Inlet.  They  found  the  inlet  blocked  with  ice,  and 
explored  the  coasts  of  Prince  of  Wales  Island  and 
North  Somerset. 

In  the  autumn  of  1850  no  less  than  fifteen  vessels, 
besides  land  expeditions,  were  searching  for  Sir  John 
Franklin.     Interest  and  anxiety  grew  to  fever  heat. 

Lady  Franklin,  in  the  spring  of  the  previous  year, 
April  4,  1819,  had  written  to  President  Taylor  of  the 
United  States,  asking  the  American  people  to  join  in 
the  search  for  her  husband.  "I  address  myself,"  she 
wrote,  "  to  you  as  the  head  of  a  great  nation,  whose 
power  to  help  me  I  cannot  doubt,  and  in  whose  disposi- 
tion to  do  so  I  have  a  confidence  which  I  trust  you  will 
not  deem  presumptuous.  .  .  I  am  not  without  hope  that 
you  will  deem  it  not  unworthy  of  a  great  and  kindred 
nation  to  take  up  the  cause  of  humanity  which  I 
plead,  in  a  national  spirit,  and  thus  generously  make  it 
your  own.  .  . 

"The  intense  anxieties  of  a  wife  and  a  mother  may 
have  led  me  too  press  too  earnestly  on  your  notice  the 
trials  under  which  we  are  suffering,  yet  not  we  onljt, 
but  hundreds  of  others." 

The  President  and  the  American  people  as  well  were 


290        SIR   JOHN    FRANKLIN  AND    OTHERS. 

deeply  interested  in  the  noble  Franklin.  It  took  prac- 
tical shape  in  the  mind  of  a  wealthy  merchant  in  New- 
York,  Henry  Grinnell,  Esq.,  at  whose  home  Lady 
Franklin  had  visited  when  in  America. 

He  purchased  and  fitted  out  two  vessels,  the  Advance 
of  one  hundred  and  forty-four  tons,  and  the  Rescue  of 
ninety-one  tons  ;  the  former  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
Edward  J.  De  Haven,  who  had  been  with  Lieutenant 
Wilkes  in  the  United  States  exploring  expedition  of  1838 
in  the  Antarctic  Ocean,  and  the  second  under  Master 
Samuel  P.  Griffin,  both  of  the  United  States  Navy. 

The  vessels  for  the  "  United  States  Grinnell  expedi- 
tion "  sailed  from  New  York  May  22,  1850.  Before 
sailing,  officers  and  men  signed  a  bond  not  to  claim, 
under  any  circumstances,  the  twenty  thousand  pounds 
offered  by  the  British  Government  for  the  finding  of 
the  Franklin  expedition. 

Dr.  Elisha  Kent  Kane,  an  accomplished  naval  officer 
and  scholar  of  Philadelphia,  at  this  time  thirty  years  of 
age,  was  appointed  surgeon  of  the  Advance,  and  on  his 
return  wrote  a  most  interesting  book  concerning  the 
journey.  He  had  travelled  extensively  in  China,  Egypt, 
and  various  parts  of  Europe,  had  rendered  valuable 
scientific  aid  in  the  United  States  Coast  Survey,  and 
was  admirably  fitted  to  observe,  and  to  describe  what  he 
saw. 

After  an  imprisonment  for  twenty-one  days  in  the  ice 
in  Melville  Bay,  off  the  west  coast  of  Greenland,  where, 
says  Kane,  "  Since  the  year  1819,  from  which  we  may 
date  the  opening  of  Melville  Bay,  no  less  than  two 
hundred  and  ten  vessels  have  been  destroyed  in  attempt- 
ing its  passage,"  they  crossed  Baffin's  Bay.  Here  Kane 
counted   two   hundred   and   eight   icebergs    within    th.3 


SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND    OTHERS.  291 

horizon  —  Sir  John  Ross  had  measured  one  in  this  bay 
three  hundred  and  twenty -five  feet  high  by  twelve  hundred 
feet  long.  Kane  pushed  on  into  Lancaster  Sound  as  far 
as  Wellington  Channel,  and  found  on  Cape  Riley,  Aug.  25, 
1850,  two  cairns.  In  one  of  these  cairns  was  a  letter, 
deposited  the  previous  day,  stating  that  Captain  Om- 
maney  of  the  Assistance  (in  company  with  Captain 
Griffin  of  their  own  consort,  the  Rescue,  according  to 
the  official  report  of  De  Haven)  had  discovered  traces 
of  an  encampment  on  Cape  Riley,  and  at  Beechey 
Island,  ten  miles  from  Cape  Riley.  This  was  the  first 
knowledge  obtained  concerning  the  Franklin  party,  after 
a  constant  search  for  three  years. 

Dr.  Kane  carefully  examined  the  indications  of  an 
encampment  at  Cape  Riley.  He  found,  he  says,  "  Four 
circular  mounds,  or  heapiugs-up,  of  the  crumbled  lime- 
stone, aided  by  larger  stones  placed  at  the  outer  edge, 
as  if  to  protect  the  leash  of  a  tent.  ...  In  a  line  with 
the  four  mounds  was  a  larger  enclosure,  triangular  in 
shape.  Some  bird  bones  and  one  rib  of  a  seal  were  found 
exactly  in  the  centre  of  this  triangle,  as  if  a  party  had 
sat  around  it  eating  ;  and  the  top  of  a  preserved-meat 
case,  much  rusted,  was  found  in  the  same  place." 

Some  twenty  or  thirty  yards  from  this  place  "  were 
several  pieces  of  pine  wood  about  four  inches  long, 
painted  green  and  white,  and  in  one  instance  puttied; 
evidently  parts  of  a  boat,  and  apparently  collected  as 
kindling  wood." 

Captain  Penny  of  the  ship  Lady  Franklin,  who  was 
also  searching  in  Wellington  Channel,  and  Dr.  Goodsir, 
the  brother  of  the  Erebus  surgeon,  discovered  scraps  of 
newspaper,  bearing  date  1844;  and  two  other  fragments, 
each  with  the  name  of  one  of  Franklin's  officers  in  pencilj 


292        SIR  J0I1N  FRANKLIN  AND    OTHERS. 

one  name  was  "  McDonald,"  assistant  surgeon  of  the  Ter- 
ror. Captain  Penny's  men  also  found  a  dredge,  "  as  if 
to  fish  up  missing  articles,"  some  footless  stockings,  tied 
at  the  lower  end  to  serve  for  socks,  an  officer's  pocket, 
velvet-lined,  torn  from  the  garment,  etc. 

Sir  John  Ross  in  the  Felix  now  joined  his  party,  and 
they  proposed  to  search  the  neighboring  country.  While 
they  were  planning,  one  of  Penny's  men  ran  towards 
them  exclaiming,  "Graves,  Captain  Penny!  graves! 
Franklin's  winter  quarters  !  " 

All  hurried  over  the  ice,  and  on  Beechey  Island  found 
three  graves.  The  mounds  were  coped  with  limestone 
slabs,  and  there  were  headstones.  They  faced  towards 
Cape  Riley,  distinctly  visible  across  the  cove.  Inscrip- 
tions had  been  cut  with  a  chisel :  the  first  read  :  — 

Sacred 

to  the 

Memory 

of 

W.  Braine,  R.  M., 

H.  M.  S.  Erebus. 

Died  April  3d,  1840, 

Aged  32  years. 

"  Choose  ye  this  day  whom  ye  will  serve." 

Joshua,  ch.  xxiv.  15. 
The  second  was  :  — 

Sacred 

to 

the  memory 

of 

John  Hartwell,,  A.  B.  of  II.  M.  S. 

Erebus, 

Aged  23  years. 

"  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  consider  your  ways." 

IlAGGAT,  i.  7. 


SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND    OTHERS.  293 

The  third  was  inscribed  :  — 

Sacred 

to 

the  memory 

of 

John  Tokkinoton, 

who  departed  this  life 

January  1st  A.  D.  1S46, 

on  board  of 

II.  M.  ship  Terror, 

Aged  20  years. 

Near  the  graves  was  a  piece  of  wood,  more  than  a  foot 
in  diameter,  and  two  feet  eight  inches  high,  which  had 
evidently  been  used  fur  an  anvil-block.  Near  it  was  a 
large  blackened  space,  covered  with  coal  cinders,  iron 
nails,  spikes,  and  the  like,  "clearly  the  remains  of  the 
armorer's  forge." 

About  four  hundred  yards  from  the  graves,  were 
evidences  of  an  observatory,  with  large  stones  fixed  as 
if  to  support  instruments ;  and  a  few  hundred  yards 
lower  down  the  remnant  of  a  garden,  "still  showing  the 
mosses  and  anemones  that  were  transplanted  by  its 
framers."  A  quarter  of  a  mile  from  this  point  were  more 
than  six  hundred  preserved-meat  cans,  arranged  in  order 
and  filled  with  limestone  pebbles,  perhaps  to  serve  as 
ballast  on  boating  expeditions. 

These  tins  were  labelled  "Goldner's  patent."  As  an 
enormous  quantity  of  such  cans  supplied  to  the  navy  were 
afterwards  found  to  contain  putrid  meat,  it  is  probable 
that  many  of  these  were  useless,  and  thus  the  supply  of 
food  for  the  three  years  had  been  greatly  reduced. 

Besides  all  these,  fragments  of  canoes,  rope,  tarpau- 
lins, casks,  iron-work,  "a  blanket  lined  by  long  stitches 
with  common  cotton  stuff,  and  made  into  a  sort  of  rude 


294        SIR  JOHN   FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

coat,"  a  pair  of  Cashmere  gloves,  "laid  out  to  dry,  with 
two  small  stones  upon  the  palms  to  keep  them  from 
blowing  away,"  and  other  things  were  found.  The 
tracks  of  a  sledge  were  also  clearly  defined,  pointing 
towards  the  eastern  shores  of  Wellington  Sound,  also 
towards  Cape  Riley,  as  though  several  journeys  had 
been  taken. 

It  is  probable  that  records  telling  of  their  journey 
were  deposited  in  the  cairns,  but  none  have  ever  been 
found. 

The  ships  of  De  Haven  were  caught  fast  in  the  ice  off 
Wellington  Channel,  and  drifted  out  into  Baffin's  Bay 
during  the  winter.  They  had  already  sighted  and  named 
Grinnell  Land,  to  the  west  of  Greenland,  which  was 
afterwards  explored  by  Captain  Nares  of  England  in 
1876,  and  Greely  in  1881-84.  The  Advance  and  Rescue 
returned  to  New  York  in  the  fall  of  1851. 

The  whole  world  was  now  more  than  ever  interested 
to  learn  the  fate  of  Franklin  and  his  men.  Dr.  Kane 
commanded  a  second  Grinnell  expedition  in  search  of 
Franklin,  the  money  being  provided  from  his  own  means 
and  the  proceeds  of  his  lectures,  assisted  with  ship  and 
money  by  Mr.  Grinnell,  and  ten  thousand  dollars  from 
Mr.  George  Peabody  of  London.  The  Advance  left  New 
York  May  30,  1853,  with  seventeen  persons  on  board. 
Aug.  7  Kane  reached  the  headland  of  Smith's  Sound, 
believing  that  an  open  polar  sea  was  beyond,  and  that 
the  Franklin  party  had  gone  to  the  far  north  up  the  Wel- 
lington Channel. 

Kane  and  his  ship  were  frozen  into  the  ice  in  Rens- 
selaer Harbor,  off  the  north-west  coast  of  Greenland, 
where  they  remained  for  the  winter.  The  thermometer 
was  as  low   as   sixty-eight   degrees  below    zero,  and  the 


SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  295 

whole  ship's  company  suffered  from  scurvy.  More  than 
fifty  of  Kane's  valuable  clogs  died  from  brain  disease. 
He  says  in  his  account  of  the  second  expedition,  Feb.  21, 
"My  dogs,  that  I  had  counted  on  so  largely,  the  nine 
splendid  Newfoundlanders  .and  thirty-five  Eskimos  of 
six  months  before,  had  perished  ;  there  were  only  six  sur- 
vivors of  the  whole  pack,  and  one  of  these  was  unfit  for 
draught." 

Kane  wrote  a  month  before  in  his  journal :  "  The 
influence  of  this  long,  intense  darkness  was  most  de- 
pressing. Even  our  dogs,  although  the  greater  part  of 
them  were  natives  of  the  Arctic  circle,  were  unable  to 
withstand  it." 

Going  on  deck  in  the  early  morning,  and  feeling  his 
way,  he  said,  "  Two  of  my  Newfoundland  dogs  put  their 
cold  noses  against  my  hand,  and  instantly  commenced 
the  most  exuberant  antics  of  satisfaction.  It  then  oc- 
curred to  me  how  very  dreary  and  forlorn  must  these 
poor  animals  be,  living  in  darkness,  howling  at  an  acci- 
dental light,  as  if  it  reminded  them  of  the  moon,  and 
with  nothing,  either  of  instinct  or  sensation,  to  tell  them 
of  the  passing  hours,  or  to  explain  the  long-lost  day- 
light.    They  shall  see  the  lanterns  more  frequently." 

Five  days  later  he  wrote  :  "  The  mouse-colored  dogs, 
the  leaders  of  my  Newfoundland  team,  have  for  the 
past  fortnight  been  nursed  like  babies.  No  one  can 
tell  how  anxiously  I  watch  them.  They  are  kept 
below,  tended,  fed,  cleansed,  caressed,  and  doctored; 
to  the  infinite  discomfort  of  all  hands.  To-day  I  give 
up  the  last  hope  of  saving  them.  Their  disease 
is  as  clearly  mental  as  in  the  case  of  any  human 
being." 

Exploring  expeditions  were  sent  out  from   the  ship. 


296        SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

One  of  these  parties  nearly  died  from  cold  and  exhaus- 
tion, and  indeed  two  of  the  men,  Peter  Schubert  and  Jef- 
ferson Temple  Baker  died,  after  being  rescued  by  Kane, 
and  all  except  one  suffered  for  a  time  from  unbalanced 
minds. 

Kane  came  near  losing  his  own  life  as  well  as  his  dogs 
in  one  of  these  various  expeditions.  The  animals  fell 
through  the  ice  sixteen  feet  below  him.  "The  roaring 
of  the  tide,"  he  says,  "  and  the  subdued  wail  of  the  dogs, 
made  me  fear  for  the  worst.  I  had  to  walk  through  the 
broken'  ice,  which  rose  in  toppling  spires  over  my  head, 
for  nearly  fifty  yards  before  I  found  an  opening  to  the 
ice-face,  by  which  I  was  able  to  climb  down  to  them.  A 
few  cuts  of  a  sheath  knife  released  them,  although  the 
caresses  of  the  dear  brutes  had  like  to  have  been  fatal 
to  me,  for  I  had  to  straddle  with  one  foot  on  the  fast  ice 
and  the  other  on  loose  piled  rubbish." 

Three  expeditions  were  made  during  early  spring  and 
summer  towards  the  north,  reaching  Cape  Constitution  in 
Kennedy  Channel. 

The  killing  of  a  bear  by  Hans,  although  necessary  for 
food  for  the  men,  afforded  a  touching  illustration  of  the 
fondness  of  a  mother  for  her  cub.  "  The  bear  fled,"  says 
Dr.  Kane,  "  but  the  little  one  being  unable  either  to 
keep  ahead  of  the  dogs  or  to  keep  pace  with  her,  she 
turned  back,  and,  putting  her  head  under  its  haunches, 
threw  it  some  distance  ahead.  The  cub  safe  for  the 
moment,  she  would  wheel  round  and  face  the  dogs,  so 
as  to  give  it  a  chance  to  run  away ;  but  it  always  stopped 
just  as  it  alighted,  till  she  came  up  and  threw  it  ahead 
again  ;  it  seemed  to  expect  her  aid,  and  would  not  go  on 
without  it." 

After  a  mile  and  a  half  the  little  one  was  so  tired  that 


SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN   AND   OTHERS.  297 

the  mother  halted  till  the  men  came  up  to  her.  "  When 
the  dogs  came  near  her,  she  would  sit  upon  her  haunches 
and  take  the  little  one  between  her  hind  legs,  fighting 
the  dogs  with  her  paws,  and  roaring  so  that  she  could 
have  been  heard  a  mile  off.  She  would  stretch  her  neck 
and  snap  at  the  nearest  dog  with  her  shining  teeth, 
whirling  her  paws  like  the  arms  of  a  windmill."  .  .  . 

Hans  shot  her,  when  "the  cub  jumped  upon  her  body 
and  reared  up,  for  the  first  time  growling  hoarsely. 
The  dogs  seemed  quite  afraid  of  the  little  creature,  she 
fought  so  actively  and  made  so  much  noise.''  The  men 
were  obliged  to  shoot  the  cub  at  last,  as  she  would  not 
quit  the  body  even  when  she  was  dying. 

Gilder,  in  "  Schwatka's  Search,"  teiis  of  a  bear  carry- 
ing its  cub  on  her  back  till,  being  shot,  the  cub  "  clung  to 
her  poor  wounded  body  with  touching  tenacity.  It  was 
heart-rending  to  see  him  try  to  cover  her  body  with  his 
own  little  form,  and  lick  her  face  and  wounds,  occasion- 
ally rising  upon  his  hind  legs  and  growling  a  fierce 
warning  to  his  enemies." 

Charles  F.  Hall,  the  explorer,  tells  in  his  "  Second 
Arctic  Expedition "  a  bear  story  universally  believed 
by  the  Eskimos  about  Hudson  Bay :  "  Many  moons 
ago  an  Innuit  woman  obtained  a  polar  bear  cub  but  two 
or  three  days  old.  Having  long  desired  just  such  a  pet, 
she  gave  it  her  closest  attention,  as  though  it  were  a  son, 
nursing  it,  making  for  it  a  soft,  warm  bed  alongside  her 
own,  and  talking  to  it  as  a  mother  does  to  her  child. 
She  had  no  living  relative,  and  she  and  the  bear  occu- 
pied the  igloo  alone. 

"Koon-ik-jooa,  as  he  grew  up,  proved  that  the  woman 
had  not  taught  him  in  vain  ;  for  he  early  began  to  hunt 
seals  and  salmon,  bringing  them  to  his  mother  before 


298         SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

eating  any  himself,  and  receiving  his  share  from  her 
hands.  She  always  watched  from  the  hill-top  for  his 
return  ;  and  if  she  saw  that  he  had  been  unsuccessful,  she 
begged  from  her  neighbors  blubber  for  his  food.  She 
learned  how  this  was  from  her  lookout;  for  if  successful, 
he  came  back  in  the  tracks  made  on  going  out,  but  if 
unsuccessful,  always  by  a  different  route. 

"Learning  to  excel  the  Innuits  in  hunting,  he  excited 
their  envy  ;  and,  after  long  years  of  faithful  service,  his 
death  was  resolved  upon.  On  hearing  this,  the  old 
woman,  overwhelmed  with  grief,  offered  to  give  up  her 
own  life  if  they  would  but  spare  him  who  had  so  long 
supported  her.     Her  offer  was  sternly  refused." 

She  told  the  bear  what  the  wicked  men  were  to  do, 
and  begged  him  to  go  away,  but  not  so  far  that  she  could 
not  come  to  him  for  a  seal  or  other  meat  which  she 
would  need. 

"  Not  long  after  this,"  says  the  story,  "  being  in  need 
of  food,  she  walked  out  on  the  snow-ice  to  see  if  she 
could  not  meet  her  son,  and  soon  recognized  him  as  one 
of  two  bears  who  were  lying  down  together.  He  ran  to 
her,  and  she  patted  him  on  the  head  in  her  old  familiar 
way,  told  him  her  wants,  and  begged  him  to  hurry  away 
and  get  something  for  her.  Away  ran  the  bear,  and  in 
a  few  moments  the  woman  looked  upon  a  terrible  fight 
going  on  between  him  and  his  late  companion,  which, 
however,  to  her  great  relief,  was  soon  ended  by  her  son's 
dragging  a  lifeless  body  to  her  feet.  With  her  pauna, 
(long  knife)  she  quickly  skinned  the  dead  bear,  giving 
her  son  large  slices  of  the  blubber,  and  telling  him  that 
she  would  soon  return  for  the  meat  which  she  could  not 
at  first  carry  to  her  igloo,  and  when  her  supply  should 
again  fail  she  would  come  back  for  his  help.     This  she 


SIR  JOUN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  299 

continued  to  do  for  a  long,  long  time,  the  faithful  bear 
always  serving  her,  and  receiving  the  same  unbroken 
love  of  his  youth." 

It  soon  became  evident  that  Kane  must  pass  another 
weary  winter  frozen  in  Smith's  Sound,  in  Rensselaer  Har- 
bor. "  It  is  horrible,"  wrote  Kane,  —  "  yes,  that  is  the 
word  —  to  look  forward  to  another  year  of  disease  and 
darkness  to  be  met  without  fresh  food  and  without  fuel. 
I  should  meet  it  with  a  more  tempered  sadness  if  I  had 
no  comrades  to  think  for  and  protect." 

Besides  the  disease  and  darkness  they  had  another 
foe.  "  If  I  was  asked,"  says  Kane,  "  what,  after  darkness 
and  cold  and  scurvy,  are  the  three  besetting  curses  of  our 
Arctic  sojourn,  I  should  say,  Rats,  Rats,  Rats.  A 
mother-rat  bit  my  finger  to  the  bone  last  Friday,  as  I 
was  intruding  my  hand  into  a  bear-skin  mitten  which 
she  had  chosen  as  a  homestead  for  her  little  family.  I 
withdrew  it,  of  course,  with  instinctive  courtesy  ;  but 
among  them  they  carried  off  the  mitten  before  I  could 
suck  the  finger. 

"  Last  week  I  sent  down  Rhina,  the  most  intelligent  dog 
of  our  whole  pack,  to  bivouac  in  their  citadel  forward;  I 
thought  she  might  at  least  be  able  to  defend  herself, 
against  them,  for  she  had  distinguished  herself  in  the 
bear-hunt.  She  slept  very  well  for  a  couple  of  hours  on 
a  bed  she  had  chosen  for  herself  on  the  top  of  some  iron 
spikes.  But  the  rats  could  not  or  would  not  forego  the 
horny  skin  about  her  paws ;  and  they  gnawed  her  feet 
and  nails  so  ferociously  that  we  drew  her  up  yelping  and 
vanquished."  Kane  himself  used  the  rats  for  food, 
and  thus  prevented  frequent  attacks  of  scurvy. 

As  winter  approached  Kane  erected  a  signal  beacon, 
or  cairn,  on  Observatory  Island,  near  by,  painting  in  big 


300  SIR   JOHN   FRANKLIN  AND    OTHERS. 

letters,  on  a  cliff,  the  ship's  name,  Advance.  In  a  hole 
in  a  rock  was  placed  a  record  of  their  journey  up  to  this 
time,  enclosed  in  glass  and  sealed  with  melted  lead,  and 
close  by  the  graves  of  the  two  dead,  seamen. 

The  record  written  Aug.  14,  1854,  showed  that  nine 
hundred  and  sixty  miles  of  coast-line  had  been  delineated, 
with  over  two  thousand  miles  of  travel,  "  all  of  which 
was  upon  foot  or  by  the  aid  of  dogs.  .  .  .  Greenland  has 
been  traced  to  its  northern  face,  whence  it  is  connected 
with  the  farther  north  of  the  opposite  coast  of  a  great 
glacier." 

Seven  of  the  party  now  left  the  ship,  including  Dr. 
Hayes,  the  leader,  with  the  hope  of  reaching  Upernavik, 
on  the  west  coast  of  Greenland,  directly  in  the  line  of  the 
Baffin's  Bay  whalers.  After  three  months  they  returned, 
having  journeyed  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  with  the 
thermometer  at  fifty  degrees  below  zero,  living  for  some 
weeks  in  an  Eskimo  hut  in  the  crevice  of  a  rock,  almost 
without  fire  or  light,  often  for  weeks  together  with  noth- 
ing to  eat  but  moss  gathered  from  the  snow-covered  rocks, 
and  finally  reached  the  Advance  more  dead  than  alive. 

The  second  winter  on  the  Advance  was  a  sad  one  for 
all.     The  dogs  died.     Jan.  3  Kane  wrote  : 

"  I  am  feeding  up  my  few  remaining  dogs  very  care- 
fully ;  but  I  have  no  meat  for  them  except  the  carcasses 
of  their  dead  companions.  .  .  .  One  of  these  poor 
creatures  has  been  a  child's  pet  among  the  Eskimos. 
Last  night  I  found  her  in  nearly  a  dying  state  at  the 
mouth  of  our  tossut,  wistfully  eying  the  crevices  of  the 
door  as  they  emitted  their  forbidden  treasure  of  light 
and  heat.  She  could  not  move,  but,  completely  subdued, 
licked  my  hand.  ...  I  carried  her  in  among  the 
glories  of  the  moderate  paradise  she  aspired  to." 


SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  301 

The  supply  of  food  was  nearly  exhausted.  Twice  with 
the  greatest  suffering  and  with  five  half-starved  dogs 
"hardly  able  to  drag  themselves,"  they  attempted  to 
reach  the  nearest  Eskimo  settlement  at  Etah,  ninety 
miles  away,  to  obtain  meat,  but  failed.  All  the  party 
were  ill  save  five  men.  "  Our  sick  are  worse,"  Kane 
writes  in  his  journal.  "  Hemorrhages  are  becoming  com- 
mon. My  crew,  —  I  have  no  crew  any  longer,  —  the  ten- 
ants of  my  bunks,  cannot  bear  me  to  leave  them  for  a 
single  watch." 

Two  rabbits  were  killed  by  Kane  and  the  Eskimo 
Hans  Christian  (a  youth  of  nineteen  who  had  embarked 
with  Kane  from  Greenland).  These  rabbits  were  the  first 
meat  they  had  had  in  ten  days,  and  were  eaten  raw.  In 
February  a  deer  was  caught,  and  thankfully  devoured. 
March  6  Hans  started  for  the  Eskimo  settlement, 
but  found  them  in  a  starving  condition,  having  killed 
and  eaten  all  of  their  thirty  dogs  except  four. 

This  condition  of  things  is  not  very  infrequent,  as  the 
Eskimos  are  improvident.  Kane  tells  of  an  Eskimo 
camp  found  in  1830  by  some  boat-crews  from  a  whaler. 
Everything  seemed  deserted.  Looking  into  the  huts, 
they  found  "  grouped  around  an  oilless  lamp,  in  the  atti- 
tudes of  life,  four  or  five  human  corpses  with  darkened 
lips  and  sunken  eyeballs,  but  all  preserved  in  perennial 
ice.  The  frozen  dog  lay  beside  his  frozen  master,  and 
the  child,  stark  and  stiff,  in  the  reindeer  hood  which  envel- 
oped the  frozen  mother." 

Hans  with  one  of  the  Etah  hunters  killed  a  large 
walrus,  thus  providing  meat  for  them  as  well  as  for  the 
starving  crew  at  Rensselaer  Harbor.  With  the  close  of 
April,  Kane  made  his  last  effort  to  explore  Kennedy 
Channel,  and  pushed  up  far  enough  to  see  the  great 
glacier,  stretching  towards  the  north  and  east. 


302  SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

Towards  the  close  of  May,  1855,  Kane  and  his  men 
said  good-by  to  the  ship  fast  in  ice,  nine  feet  thick  and 
with  two  whale  boats,  Hope  and  Faith,  each  twenty-four 
feet  long,  drawn  on  sledges  eighteen  feet  long,  and  one 
smaller  boat,  they  commenced  their  journey  down  the 
frozen  coast  of  Greenland.  Four  men  were  unable  to 
move.  Dr.  Kane  drove  the  dog  team,  and  twelve  men 
drove  the  sledges. 

Their  condition  was  pitiable.  Once  they  were  on  the 
point  of  killing  two  of  their  valuable  dogs,  to  preserve 
their  lives.  Christian  Ohlsen,  aged  thirty-six,  died  on 
the  journey.     One  boat  was  necessarily  used  for  fuel. 

After  eighty-three  days  of  a  most  perilous  journey, 
they  arrived  at  Upernavik,  Greenland,  and  were  taken 
on  board  the  Danish  ship  Mariane,  which  touched  at  God- 
havn,  prior  to  landing  them  at  the  Shetland  Islands. 

On  the  evening  of  July  11,  the  day  on  which  they 
were  starting  for  Europe,  a  steamer  drew  near,  and  they 
recognized  the  beloved  stars  and  stripes.  The  boat  Faith 
was  lowered  from  the  Mariane,  —  Kane  was  carrying  her 
home  to  America  as  a  precious  token  of  their  preserva- 
tion, —  and  in  her  they  went  out  to  meet  Captain  Hart- 
stene  of  the  ships  Release  and  Arctic,  sent  out  by  the 
United  States  from  New  York,  May  31,  1855,  to  rescue 
Kane  if  yet  alive.  Hartstene  had  volunteered  for  the 
service,  and  nobly  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  our  Navy : 
"To  avoid  further  risk  of  human  life  in  a  search  so 
extremely  hazardous,  I  would  suggest  the  impropriety  of 
making  any  efforts  to  relieve  us  if  we  should  not  return." 
Hartstene  had  searched  all  summer  for  the  missing 
party,  going  within  thirty  miles  of  Rensselaer  Harbor, 
and  on  their  journey  southward  learned  from  the  Eski- 
mos at  Etah  that  Kane  was  still  alive. 


SIR  JOHN  Fit  AN  KLIN  AND   OTHERS.  303 

Dr.  Kane  reached  New  York  Oct.  11,  1855.  He 
prepared  his  narrative  of  the  journey  for  the  press,  the 
sales  of  the  book  the  first  year  reaching  sixty-five 
thousand  copies.  He  wrote  to  his  friend  and  publisher, 
George  W.  Childs  :  "  The  book,  poor  as  it  is,  has  been  my 
coffin." 

He  was  urged  to  undertake  another  journey,  but  his 
broken  health  was  against  it.  His  mother  also  opposed 
it.  He  said,  "  Other  persuasion  I  can  resist,  but  this 
settles  the  question." 

He  received  many  rewards  from  both  Great  Britain  and 
America.  The  queen's  medal  was  struck  for  both  the 
officers  and  men  of  the  Advance,  and  the  British  govern- 
ment presented  Mr.  Grinnell  with  a  large  and  costly 
silver  vase.  Kane  received  the  medal  of  the  London 
Society  from  Admiral  Beechey,  K.  1ST. ;  but  that  of  the 
Paris  Society  came  too  late,  for  he  died  at  Havana,  Cuba, 
Feb.  10,  1857,  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven.  His  mother 
was  at  his  bedside  and  read  to  him  the  Bible,  accord- 
ing to  his  often-made  request,  or  repeated  to  him  such 
verses  as  "  The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd,"  or  "  Let  not  your 
heart  be  troubled." 

He  died  as  he  had  lived,  in  faith  and  hope,  the  words 
he  had  characteristically  given  to  his  boats.  He  said 
in  his  Narrative  :  i;  I  never  lost  my  hope.  ...  I  never 
doubted  for  an  instant  that  the  same  Providence  which 
had  guarded  us  through  the  long  darkness  of  winter  was 
still  watching  over  us  for  good,  and  that  it  was  yet  in 
reserve  for  us — for  some:  I  dared  not  hope  for  all  — 
to  bear  back  the  tidings  of  our  rescue  to  a  Christian 
land." 

Kane's  body  lay  in  state  at  Independence  Hall,  Phila- 
delphia, and  was  buried  with  distinguished  honors. 


304  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

Now  that  it  was  known  that   Franklin  had  spent 
first  winter  on  Beechey  Island,  and  chat  three  graves  of 
his  men  had  been  found  there,  Lady  Franklin  could  not 
rest  until  a  further  search  was  undertaken. 

As  soon  as  the  Prince  Albert  returned  with  the  infor- 
mation, she  was  re-equipped  by  Lady  Franklin  and  sent 
out  in  1851,  under  command  of  Captain  Kennedy,  to 
explore  Prince  Regent  Inlet,  as  this  inlet  had  been 
blocked  with  ice  when  the  Prince  Albert  attempted  pre- 
viously to  explore  it.  Under  Kennedy  was  Lieutenant 
Bellot  of  France,  who  volunteered  for  the  service ;  but  he 
was  drowned  while  leading  a  sledge  party  in  Wellington 
Channel,  Aug.  17,  1853.  Kennedy  made  the  complete 
circuit  of  North  Somerset. 

Lady  Franklin  fitted  out  the  steamer  Isabel,  under 
Commander  Inglefield,  in  the  autumn  of  1852,  which 
returned  after  having  sailed  to  the  head  of  Baffin's  Bay. 
Several  other  ships  of  search  were  sent  out  in  the  years 
1853-54. 

Dr.  John  Rae,  under  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  had  in 
1846-47  explored  from  Fort  Churchill  on  the  west  coast 
of  Hudson  Bay  to  the  Gulf  of  Boothia,  and  later,  the 
coasts  of  Wollaston  and  Victoria  Lands.  In  1853  he  was 
sent  around  Committee  Bay,  at  the  lower  part  of  Boothia 
Gulf  and  to  the  coasts  of  Boothia  Isthmus. 

He  wintered  in  Repulse  Bay,  south  of  Melville  Penin- 
sula and  of  Committee  Bay,  and  in  the  spring  of  1854 
commenced  his  explorations.  On  April  20,  1854,  he 
met  some  Eskimos  in  Pelly  Bay,  in  the  western  part  of 
Boothia  Gulf,  from  whom  he  obtained  some  articles 
which  belonged  to  Franklin  and  his  men.  From  them 
he  obtained  the  following  information,  as  given  in  his 
official  report  to  the  admiralty:     "In  the  spring  four 


«IR   J01IN   FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  305 

winters  past  (spring,  1850)  [probably  1848]  a  party  of 
'  white  men,'  amounting  to  about  forty,  were  seen  travel- 
ling southward  over  the  ice  and  dragging  a  boat  with 
them,  by  some  Eskimos  who  were  killing  seals  near  the 
north  shore  of  King  William  Land,  which  is  a  large 
island.  None  of  the  party  could  speak  the  Eskimo 
language  intelligibly,  but  by  signs  the  natives  were 
made  to  understand  that  their  ship,  or  ships,  had  been 
crushed  by  the  ice,  and  that  they  were  now  going  to 
where  they  expected  to  find  deer  to  shoot.  From  the 
appearance  of  the  men,  all  of  whom  except  one  officer 
looked  thin,  they  were  then  supposed  to  be  getting 
short  of  provisions,  and  purchased  a  small  seal  from  the 
natives. 

"  At  a  later  date  the  same  season,  but  previous  to  the 
breaking-up  of  the  ice,  the  bodies  of  some  thirty  per- 
sons were  discovered  on  the  continent,  and  five  on  an 
island  near  it,  about  a  long  day's  journey  to  the  north- 
west of  a  large  stream,  which  can  be  no  other  than 
Back's  Great  Fish  River.  .  .  .  Some  of  the  bodies  had 
been  buried  (probably  those  of  the  first  victims  of  the 
famine),  some  were  in  a  tent  or  tents,  others  under 
the  boat,  which  had  been  turned  over  to  form  a  shelter, 
and  several  lay  scattered  about  in  different  directions. 
Of  those  found  on  the  island  one  was  supposed  to  have 
been  an  officer,  as  he  had  a  telescope  strapped  over  his 
shoulders,  and  his  double-barrelled  gun  lay  underneath 
iiim. 

"From  the  mutilated  state  of  many  of  the  corpses 
and  the  contents  of  the  kettles,  it  is  evident  that  our 
wretched  countrymen  had  been  driven  to  the  last 
resource — cannibalism  —  as  a  means  of  prolonging 
existence. 


306  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

"There  appeared  to  have  been  an  abundant  stock  of 
ammunition,  as  the  powder  Avas  emptied  in  a  heap  on 
the  ground  by  the  natives  out  of  the  kegs  or  cases  con- 
taining it,  and  a  quantity  of  ball  and  shot  was  found 
below  high-water  mark,  having  probably  been  left  on  the 
ice  close  to  the  beach.  There  must  have  been  a  number 
of  watches,  compasses,  telescopes,  guns  (several  double- 
barrelled),  etc.,  all  of  which  appear  to  have  been  broken 
up,  as  I  saw  pieces  of  those  different  articles  with  the 
Eskimos,  together  with  some  silver  spoons  and  forks.  I 
purchased  as  many  as  I  could  get.  .  .  . 

"  None  of  the  Eskimos  with  whom  I  conversed  had 
seen  the  '  whites,'  nor  had  they  ever  been  at  the  place 
where  the  bodies  were  found,  but  had  their  information 
from  those  who  had  been  there,  and  who  had  seen  part 
of  the  party  when  travelling." 

The  government  award  of  £10,000  was  given  to  Dr. 
Rae  for  his  discovery,  though  Lady  Franklin  was  not 
satisfied,  as  nothing  very  definite  was  yet  known  con- 
cerning Franklin  and  the  ships.  The  government  now 
ceased  its  efforts,  as  by  this  time,  says  Mr.  A.  H.  Beesly, 
in  his  life  of  Franklin,  about  £800,000  had  been  ex- 
pended in  ships,  etc.,  for  the  Franklin  search.  About 
4,300  miles  had  been  sledged.  Lieutenant  M'Clintock 
estimates  the  amount  expended  by  England  in  the 
Franklin  search  as  £982,000,  while  the  United  States 
spent  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars. 

Lady  Franklin  had  already  sent  out  four  ships  largely 
at  her  own  expense  ;  and  now  she  sent  out  another 
almost  entirely  at  her  own  cost,  the  steam  yacht  Fox,  of 
177  tons,  —  paying  £2,000  for  her,  —  Captain  M'Clintock 
commanding.  Associated  with  him  were  Lieutenant 
Hobson,  R.  N.,  and  Captain  Allen  Young,  who  not  only 


SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  807 

offered  his  services  gratuitously,  but  contributed  largely 
from  his  own  private  fortune  towards  the  expenses  of 
the  expedition.  Provisions  were  taken  for  two  years 
and  four  months.  Captain  M'Clintock  went  without 
instructions  other  than  as  Lady  Franklin  said,  to  re- 
cover, if  possible,  "some  of  the  unspeakably  precious 
documents  of  the  expedition,  public  and  private,  and  the 
personal  relics  of  my  dear  husband  and  his  companions." 
Lady  Franklin  wrote  M'Clintock  : 

"  It  will  be  yours  [the  honor]  as  much  if  you  fail 
(since  you  may  fail  in  spite  of  every  effort)  as  if  you 
succeed ;  and  be  assured  that,  under  any  and  all  circum- 
stances whatever,  such  is  my  unbounded  confidence  in 
you,  you  will  possess  and  be  entitled  to  the  enduring 
gratitude  of  your  sincere  and  attached  friend, 

Jane  Franklin. 

Carl  Petersen,  the  Eskimo  interpreter  for  Captain 
Penny  and  Dr.  Kane,  went  with  them. 

The  Fox  left  Aberdeen  July  1,  1857,  and  was  frozen 
in  the  pack  in  Melville  Bay  off  the  coast  of  Greenland 
by  the  middle  of  August.  She  was  beset  for  242  days, 
drifting  southward,  and  carried  1,194  geographical  miles, 
or  1,381  statute  miles,  before  she  was  released  from  the 
ice,  April  25,  1858. 

In  the  beginning  of  winter,  Dec.  4,  occurred  tae  first 
burial  from  the  ship.  A  hole  had  been  cut  in  the  ice, 
and  the  body  was  drawn  on  a  sledge  by  the  men.  "  What 
a  scene  it  was  !  I  shall  never  forget  it,"  writes  Sir  F. 
Leopold  M'Clintock  in  his  "Voyage  of  the  Fox  :  "  "The 
lonely  '  Fox  '  almost  buried  in  snow,  completely  isolated 
from  the  habitable  world,  her  colors  half-mast  high,  and 
bell   mournfully    tolling ;    our    little    procession    slowly 


308  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

marching  over  the  rough  surface  of  the  frozen  deep 
guided  by  lanterns  and  direction-posts,  amid  the  dreary 
darkness  of  an  Arctic  winter:  the  death-like  stillness 
around,  the  intense  cold,  and  the  threatening  aspect  of 
a  murky,  overcast  sky  ;  and  all  this  heightened  by  one 
of  those  strange  lunar  phenomena  which  are  but  seldom 
seen  even  here,  a  complete  halo  encircling  the  moon, 
through  which  passed  a  horizontal  band  of  pale  light 
that  encompassed  the  heavens  ;  above  the  moon  appeared 
the  segments  of  two  other  halos,  and  there  were  also 
mock  moons,  or  paraselenae,  to  the  number  of  six.  .  .  . 

"  Scarcely  had  the  Burial  Service  been  completed  when 
our  poor  dogs,  discovering  that  the  ship  was  deserted,  set 
up  a  most  dismal,  unearthly  moaning,  and  continued  it 
till  we  returned  on  board." 

After  her  release'  from  the  ice  the  Fox  sailed  north- 
ward again  through  Melville  Bay,  and  into  Lancaster 
sound  to  Beechey  Island.  Here  M'Clure  erected  a  mar- 
ble monument  which  had  been  sent  to  the  Polar  regions 
by  Lady  Franklin.  Lieutenent  Hartstene,  when  in  his 
search  for  Kane,  carried  the  monument,  but  he  was  pre- 
vented by  the  ice  from  reaching  Beechey  Island.  On  the 
stone  are  the  words  :  — 

To  the  memory  of 

FRANKLIN, 

Ceoziek,  Fitzjames, 

and  all  their 

gallant  brother  officers  and  faithful 

companions  who  have  suffered  and  perished 

in  the  cause  of  science 

and  the  service  of  their  country. 

This  Tablet 

is  erected  near  the  spot  where 

they  passed  their  first  Arctic 


Sill   JOHN  FRANKLIN   AND    0TI1ERS  309 

■winter,  and  whence  they  issued 

forth  to  conquer  difficulties  or 

To  Die. 

It  commemorates  the  grief  of  the 

admiring  countrymen  and  friends, 

and  the  anguish,  subdued  by  faith, 

of  her  who  lias  lost,  in  the  heroic 

leader  of  the  expedition,  the  most 

devoted  and  affectionate  of 

husbands. 

"  And  so  He  bringeth  them  into  the 

haven  where  they  would  be." 

1855. 

Aug.  16,  1858,  the  Fox  sailed  from  Beechey  Island 
up  Prince  Regent  Inlet  towards  Bellot  Strait  named 
after  the  dead  French  officer,  which  separates  north 
Somerset  and  Boothia.  After  being  nearly  shipwrecked 
the  party  wintered  in  Port  Kennedy,  at  the  eastern  end 
of  the  strait.  During  the  winter  they  made  ready  for 
the  sledge  journeys  in  various  directions  in  the  spring. 

On  Feb.  17  M'Clintock  set  off  toward  the  west  of 
Boothia  with  two  men  and  two  sledges  drawn  by  fifteen 
dogs. 

M'Clintock  says  of  his  dog-team  :  "  They  bit  through 
their  traces,  and  hid  away  under  the  sledge,  or  leaped 
over  one  another's  backs,  so  as  to  get  into  the  middle  of 
the  team  out  of  the  way  of  my  whip,  while  the  traces 
became  plaited  up,  and  the  dogs  were  almost  knotted 
together ;  the  consequence  was,  I  had  to  halt  every  few 
minutes,  pull  off  my  mits,  and,  at  the  risk  of  frozen 
hands,  disentangle  the  lines.  .  .  .  Their  strength  and 
endurance  are  astonishing.  When  an  Eskimo  dog  feels 
the  whip,  he  usually  bites  his  neighbor ;  the  bite  is 
.passed  along  to  the  next,  and  a  general  fight  and  howl- 
ins:  match  ensues." 


310  SIR  JOUN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

When  a  dog-sledge  is  stopped  by  the  rough  ice  or 
deep  snow,  "the  dogs,"  said  McClintock,  "instead  of 
exciting  themselves,  lie  down,  looking  perfectly  delighted 
at  the  circumstance." 

The  cold  was  intense,  42^°  below  zero.  On  March  1 
they  reached  the  supposed  position  of  the  magnetic  pole, 
and  soon  met  four  Eskimos  returning  home  from  a 
seal-hunt. 

One  of  the  Eskimos  wore  a  naval  button,  and  when 
asked  where  he  obtained  it,  he  said,  "  from  some  white 
people  who  were  starved  upon  an  island  where  there  are 
salmon  (that  is,  in  a  river)  ;  and  that  the  iron  of  which 
their  knives  were  made  came  from  the  same  place. 
One  of  these  men  said  he  had  been  to  the  island  to  obtain 
wood  and  iron,  but  none  of  them  had  seen  the  white 
men." 

The  entire  Eskimos  village,  about  forty-five  persons, 
near  Cape  Victoria,  came  out  to  see  M'Clintock  in  the 
morning.  The  Englishmen  purchased  all  the  relics  of 
Franklin  which  they  could  find :  six  silver  spoons  and 
forks,  the  property  of  Sir  John  Franklin,  Lieutenant 
H.  T.  D.  Le  Vesconte,  J.  W.  Fairholme,  and  Lieutenant 
Edward  Couch  —  supposed  from  the  initial  C.  and  crest, 
a  lion's  head;  also  a  silver  medal  belonging  to  A. 
McDonald,  assistant  surgeon  of  the  Terror,  obtained  as  a 
prize  at  a  medical  examination  in  Edinburgh,  April,  1838, 
part  of  a  gold  watch-chain,  seven  knives,  and  bows  and 
arrows  made  by  the  natives  out  of  materials  obtained 
from  the  ships,  and  several  other  things.  A  spear-staff 
measuring  six  feet  and  three  inches,  with  head  of  steel, 
the  natives  said  they  got  from  a  boat  in  the  Great  Fish 
River. 

One  of   the   Eskimos  told  Petersen,  the  interpreter,* 


SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  311 

that  "a  ship  having  three  masts  had  been  crushed  by  the 
ice  out  in  the  sea  to  the  west  of  King  William  Island, 
but  that  all  the  people  landed  safely  ;  he  was  not  one  of 
those  who  were  eye-witnesses  of  it ;  the  ship  sank,  so 
nothing  was  obtained  by  the  natives  from  her." 

The  Eskimos  were  eager  to  barter  with  M'Clin- 
tock,  for  knives,  needles,  scissors,  and  beads.  One  woman 
took  a  naked  infant  by  the  arm  from  the  fur  hood 
where  she  carried  it  on  her  back,  and  holding  it  toward 
M'Clintock,  with  the  thermometer  at  sixty  degrees 
below  freezing  point,  begged  for  a  needle  for  her  baby. 
M'Clintock  says  he  gave  her  a  needle  "as  expeditiously 
as  possible."  One  of  the  natives  offered  Lieutenant 
Peary,  when  in  Greenland,  his  wife  and  two  children  for  a 
knife,  which  generous  proposition  the  officer  was  obliged 
to  decline.  M'Clintock  returned  to  his  ship,  after  twenty- 
five  days,  having  made  a  sledge  journey  of  four  hundred 
and  twenty  English  miles. 

Encouraged  now  with  the  hope  of  finding  more  relics 
of  Franklin,  two  sledge  parties  started  out,  one  under 
Captain  M'Clintock,  and  the  other  under  Lieutenant 
Hobson.  The  load  for  each  man  to  drag  was  about  two 
hundred  pounds,  and  for  each  dog  one  hundred  pounds. 

After  several  days  journeying  they  met  the  same  Es- 
kimo whom  they  had  seen  before  at  Cape  Victoria. 
They  now  heard  from  the  natives  that  "two  ships  had 
been  seen  off  King  William  Island;  one  of  them  was 
seen  to  sink  in  deep  water,  .  .  .  but  the  other  was  forced 
on  shore  by  the  ice,  where  they  suppose  she  still 
remains,  but  is  much  broken.  Oot-loo-lik  is  the  name 
of  the  place  where  she  grounded  .  .  .  [thirty  or  forty 
miles  south-west  from  Cape  Herschel].  .  .  .  The  body  of 
a  man  was  found  on  board  the  ship  ;  a  very  large  man,  and 


312  MR   JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

had  long  teeth.  In  the  fall  of  the  year  the  boats  were 
destroyed  —  that  is  August  or  September —  all  the  white 
people  went  away  to  the  '  large  river/  taking  a  boat,  or 
boats,  with  them,  and  in  the  following  winter  their  bones 
were  found  there." 

At  Cape  Victoria  the  two  leaders  separated,  M'Clin- 
tock  taking  the  east  coast  of  King  William  Island  for 
search,  and  Hobson  the  west.  On  the  east  shore  of  the 
island,  near  Cape  Norton,  M'Clintock  met  thirty  or  forty 
natives  from  whom  he  purchased  two  tablespoons,  with 
W.  W.  on  one  and  W.  G.  on.  the  other,  with  Franklin's 
crest  upon  them,  and  four  other  pieces  of  silver  plate 
bearing  the  initials  or  crests  of  Franklin,  Crozier,  Fair- 
holme,  and  McDonald;  also  bows  and  arrows  of  English 
woods,  and  uniform  and  other  buttons.  .  .  .  The  silver 
spoons  and  forks  were  readily  sold  for  four  needles 
each."  The  Eskimos  offered  them  a  heavy  sledge, 
probably  made  from  the  ships,  but  this  the  white  men 
could  not  carry. 

The  Eskimos  said  "There  had  been  many  books,  but 
all  have  long  ago  been  destroyed  by  the  weather."  One 
woman  and  boy  had  visited  the  wreck  during  the  pre- 
ceding winter,  that  is  1857-58.  She  said,  "  Many  of  the 
white  men  dropped  by  the  way  as  they  went  to  the  Great 
River." 

May  12  M'Clintock  and  his  party  encamped  upon  the 
ice  in  the  mouth  of  Back's  Great  Fish  River,  and  a  little 
later  on  Montreal  Island,  farther  up  the  river.  Here 
they  found  "a  piece  of  a  preserved-meat  tin,  two  pieces 
of  iron  hoop,  some  scraps  of  copper,  and  an  iron  hook- 
bolt,"  which  had  probably  been  brought  there  from  the 
ship.  The  thermometer  was  now  at  zero,  and  the  land  was 
covered  with  snow.     Here  they  shot  a  hare  and  a  brace  of 


SIR  JOHN   FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  313 

willow-grouse,  showing  that  at  this  season  of  the  year 
there  was  very  little  fresh  meat  to  be  obtained  for  food. 

They  crossed  over  to  the  mainland,  Adelaide  Penin- 
sula, and  then  back  to  King  William  Island,  along  the 
southern  shore.  They  found  a  cairn  nearly  five  feet 
high,  appearing  to  be  of  recent  construction,  but  noth- 
ing within  it.  If  there  had  been  papers,  they  were 
destroyed. 

Shortly  after  midnight  of  May  25,  nine  miles  east  of 
Cape  Herschel,  near  the  beach,  which  the  winds  kept 
partially  bare  from  snow,  they  found  a  human  skeleton, 
the  bare  skull  showing  above  the  snow,  with  here  and 
there  some  fragments  of  clothing  appearing  through  the 
snow,  the  tie  of  a  black  silk  neckerchief,  pieces  of  a  blue 
waistcoat,  silk-covered  buttons  of  a  blue  cloth  great-coat, 
clothes-brush,  comb,  and  pocket-book.  In  the  comb  were 
some  light  brown  hairs. 

The  bleached  skeleton  was  lying  upon  its  face  towards 
the  Great  Fish  River,  "  the  limbs  and  smaller  bones  either 
dissevered  or  gnawed  away  by  small  animals."  The 
man  was  slightly  built.  The  pocket-book  was  opened, 
when  it  could  be  thawed,  and  found  to  contain  eight 
letters  or  papers  with  Henry  Peglar's  name  on  several. 

One  thing  was  now  proved ;  viz.,  that  some  of  the 
Franklin  party  had  reached  the  lower  part  of  King 
William  Island,  and  had  seen  for  themselves  the  North- 
west Passage,  through  Simpson's  Strait. 

At  Cape  Herschel  was  a  large  cairn  erected  in  1839, 
but  which,  by  the  appearance  of  the  stones,  had  recently 
been  partially  torn  down  as  if  somebody  had  been  seek- 
ing for  things  deposited  therein.  M'Clintock  felt  sure 
that  some  most  valuable  documents  must  have  been  left 
here  by  the  retreating  party. 


314  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

About  twelve  miles  beyond  Cape  Hersehel  M'CIin- 
tock  found  a  small  cairn  built  by  Hobson,  and  a  note 
within  it,  stating  that  lie  had  found  the  record,  so  long 
eagerly  sought,  at  Point  Victory,  on  the  north-west 
coast  of  King  William  Land.  The  cairn,  which  had 
been  five  or  six  feet  high,  had  partially  fallen  down, 
and  the  record  in  a  tin  cylinder  was  found  on  the  ground 
among  some  loose  stones. 

This  was  the  sad  record  :  — 

"  28th  of  May,  1847.  H.  M.  ships  Erebus  and  Terror 
wintered  in  the  ice  in  lat.  70°  05'  N.,  long.  98°  23'  W. 
Having  wintered  in  1846-47  [they  meant  1845-46]  at 
Beechey  Island,  in  lat.  74°  43'  28"  N.  Long.  91°  39' 
15"  W.,  after  having  ascended  Wellington  channel  to 
lat.  77°,  and  returned  by  the  west  side  of  Cornwallis 
Island. 

Sir  John  Franklin  commanding  the  expedition. 

All  well. 

Party  consisting  of  2  officers  and  6  men  left  the  ship 
on  Monday,  24th  May,  1847. 

Gka.  Gore,  Lieut. 
Chas.  F.  Dks  Vrcux,  Mater 

It  is  probable  that  they  went  to  Cape  Hersehel  to  see 
for  themselves  the  North-west  Passage. 

Nearly  a  year  after  this,  around  the  margin  of  the 
record,  these  words  were  faintly  traced  :  — 

"April  25,  1848:  H.  M.  ships  Terror  and  Erebus  were 
deserted  on  the  22d  April,  five  leagues  N.  N.  W.  of  this, 
having  been  beset  since  12th  September,  1846.  The 
officers  and  crews,  consisting  of  105  souls,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Captain  F.  11.  M.  Crozier,  landed  here  in  lat. 
69°  37'  42"  K,  long,  98°  41'  W.     Sir  John  Franklin  died 


SIB  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  315 

on  the  11th  of  June,  1847 ;  and  the  total  loss  by  deaths 
in  the  expedition  has  been  to  this  date  9  officers  and  15 
men. 

F.  R.  M.  Crozier,  James  Fitzjames, 

Captain  and  Senior  officer,  Captain  H.  31.  S.  Erebus. 

and  start  on  to-morrow  2Gth 
for  Back's  Fish  River. 

The  paper  was  written  by  Fitzjames,  save  the  signa- 
tures, and  the  line  stating  where  they  were  going.  So 
sad  and  so  concise  a  record  is  seldom  found :  their 
leader  Sir  John  dead ;  the  last  hopeless  winter  taking 
away  twenty-one  of  their  number,  Graham  Gore  among 
them ;  and  the  remaining  one  hundred  and  five  starting 
away  so  early  in  the  season  on  a  journey  which  promised 
little  else  save  death  by  starvation. 

M'Clintock  journeyed  on  up  the  west  coast  of  King 
William  Land,  naming  the  extreme  point  Cape  Crozier, 
and  soon  after  saw  a  large  boat,  which  had  been  seen 
also  by  Hobson.  It  measured  28  feet  long,  and  7  feet  3 
inches  wide,  evidently  intended  for  the  Great  Fish 
River.  It  was  mounted  upon  a  sledge,  the  whole  weigh- 
ing about  1,400  pounds. 

Within  the  boat  were  portions  of  two  skeletons,  one 
of  a  slight  young  person  in  the  bow  of  the  boat  much 
devoured  by  wolves,  perhaps,  and  the  other  of  a  large, 
strongly  made,  middle-aged  man,  lying  across  the  boat  in 
the  stern,  enveloped  with  clothes  and  furs.  Close  beside 
the  latter  were  found  five  watches  —  one  watch  bore  the 
crest  of  Lieutenant  Couch — and  two  double-barrelled 
guns,  one  barrel  in  each  loaded  and  cocked,  the  other  hav- 
ing for  some  reason  been  discharged  —  standing  muzzle 
upwards  against  the  boat's  side  as  if  ready  to  shoot  game. 


316        SIR   JOHN    FRANKLIN  AND    OTHERS. 

Quantities  of  clothing  were  found  in  the  boat,  besides 
seven  or  eight  pairs  of  boots  of  various  kinds,  several 
silk  handkerchiefs,  towels,  brushes,  needle  and  thread 
cases,  several  small  books,  all  Scriptural,  except  the 
"  Vicar  of  Wakefield,"  a  Bible  much  interlined,  a  prayer- 
book,  forty  pounds  of  chocolate,  an  empty  pemican  can, 
which  would  hold  twenty -two  pounds  (it  was  marked  E., 
and  probably  belonged  to  the  Erebus),  eleven  large  silver 
spoons,  the  same  number  of  forks,  and  four  teaspoons, 
all  marked  with  the  initials  or  crests  of  nine  different 
officers. 

The  boat  was  pointed  towards  the  north-east,  that  is, 
towards  the  abandoned  ships;  so  it  seems  probable  that, 
unable  to  proceed  towards  the  Fish  River,  some  of  the 
men,  hoping  against  hope,  determined  to  go  back  and 
try  to  subsist  till  deliverance  might  come  from  some 
source.  These  two  were  probably  left  till  the  rest 
could  go  back  to  the  ship  and  then  rescue  them. 

The  boat  was  about  sixty -four  miles  from  the  ships, 
and  seventy  miles  from  the  place  where  M'Clintock 
had  found  the  first  skeleton. 

When  M'Clintock  reached  Point  Victory,  he  found  a 
great  quantity  of  things  which  the  crews  had  evidently 
been  unable  to  carry  after  the  journey  of  fifteen  miles  : 
four  sets  of  boats,  cooking-stoves,  shovels,  a  small  case 
of  medicines,  brass  plate  of  a  wooden  gun-case,  engraved 
C.  H.  Osmer,  R.  N.  (the  purser  of  the  Erebus),  bar  mag- 
nets, a  small  sextant  marked  Frederic  Hornby,  a  mate 
of  the  Terror  (presented  in  later  years  by  his  brother, 
Admiral  Hornby,  to  Lieutenant  Wyatt  Rawson,  who  fell 
at  the  battle  of  Tel-el-Kebir),  and  a  huge  pile  of  clothing 
and  blankets  four  feet  high.  From  this  point  M'Clintock 
returned  to  his  ship.     Allen  Young  also  made  a  perilous 


SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  317 

and  most  interesting  sledge  journey  around  Prince  of 
Wales  Land. 

Hobson  spent  thirty-one  days  on  the  desolate  west 
shore  of  King  William  Island.  Besides  the  record  and 
clothing  at  Point  Victory  and  the  boat  with  skeletons, 
Hobson  found  clothes,  three  small  tents,  and  other 
things  at  Cape  Felix,  the  northern  extremity  of  the 
island.  During  the  whole  month  he  shot  but  one  bear 
and  four  willow-grouse.  One  wolf  and  a  few  foxes  were 
seen.  "  One  fox,"  says  M'Clintock,  "  was  either  so  des- 
perately hungry,  or  so  charmed  with  the  rare  sight  of 
animated  beings,  that  he  played  about  the  party  until  the 
dogs  snatched  him  up,  although  in  harness  and  dragging 
the  sledge  at  the  time." 

M'Clintock  says  nothing  can  exceed  the  gloom  and 
desolation  of  the  west  coast  of  the  island.  Hobson  was 
so  afflicted  with  scurvy  that  he  was  unable  to  stand  when 
he  reached  the  ship.  The  scarcity  of  fresh  food  attain- 
able, and  the  fact  that  no  preserved  meat  or  vegetable 
tins  were  found  about  the  cairns  or  along  the  march  of 
the  Franklin  crew,  "makes  the  inference,"  as  M'Clin- 
tock says,  "  as  plain  as  it  is  painful !  "  Scurvy  and  want 
probably  did  their  fatal  work  quickly. 

The  Fox  and  her  brave  and  successful  men  reached 
Godhavn,  Greenland,  Aug.  26,  1859.  They  parted  with 
regret  from  the  Eskimo  guides,  who  said  they  had 
been  treated  "all  the  same  as  brothers."  The  dogs  they 
gave  to  those  whom  they  felt  would  treat  them  kindly, 
but  the  poor  creatures  acted  as  though  the  ship  was  their 
home.  "They  ran  round  the  harbor  to  the  point  nearest 
the  ship,"  says  M'Clintock,  "and  there,  upon  the  rocks, 
spent  the  whole  period  of  our  stay.  As  we  sailed  slowly 
out  of  the  harbor  they  ran  along  the  rocks  abreast  of  the 


818        SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN   AND   OTHERS. 

ship  to  the  outermost  extreme,  howling  most  piteously  ; 
even  when  far  out  at  sea  we  could  still  hear  their  plain- 
tive chorus." 

The  ship  reached  England,  Sept.  23,  1859.  Govern- 
ment voted  M'Clintock  and  his  men  five  thousand  pounds, 
and  also  voted  two  thousand  pounds  for  a  monument  in 
Waterloo  Place  with  the  following  inscription  :  — 

FRANKLIN. 

To  the  great  navigator 

and  his  brave  companions 

who  sacrificed  their  lives  in 

completing  the  discovery  of 

the  North-west  Passage 

A.  D.  1847-48. 

Erected  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  Parliament. 

M'Clintock  received  the  freedom  of  the  city  of  London 
for  his  discoveries,  the  gold  medal  of  the  Royal  Geograph- 
ical Society,  honorary  degrees  from  different  universities, 
and  knighthood  from  Queen  Victoria. 

There  were  some  persons  who  believed  that  a  portion 
of  the  Franklin  party  might  yet  be  alive,  or,  as  King 
William  Island  had  been  searched  when  covered  with 
snow,  more  traces  of  the  dead  might  be  discovered  when 
the  land  was  bare. 

One  person,  toiling  at  his  trade,  that  of  engraver,  in 
the  city  of  Cincinnati,  0.,  for  nine  long  years,  from  the 
day  Lieutenant  De  Haven  went  out  in  the  Advance, 
in  1850,  to  the  return  of  Captain  M'Clintock  in  the  Fox, 
1859,  was  using  every  spare  moment  in  the  study  of  Arc- 
tic research,  and  thinking  what  could  be  done  for  the 
rescue  of  Franklin. 


SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN   AND    OTHERS.  819 

Charles  Francis  Hall  was  without  means;  but  he  had 
untiring  perseverance  and  energy,  faith  in  his  mission, 
for  he  believed  that  lie  was  called  to  the  work,  and  an 
unfailing  trust  in  Providence.  Through  obstacles  almost 
insurmountable,  visiting  and  talking  with  prominent 
men,  explaining  his  plans  to  this  and  that  learned 
soeiety,  neglecting  his  business  for  the  one  purpose  of 
his  life,  he  finally  obtained  money  to  build  a  boat,  one 
sledge,  to  procure  twelve  hundred  pounds  of  pemican,  a 
few  instruments,  and  other  stores. 

The  firm  of  Williams  &  Haven  of  New  London,  Conn., 
offered  to  take  him  and  his  outfit,  free  of  charge,  in  one 
of  their  vessels,  the  George  Henry,  to  the  vicinity  of 
Frobisher  Bay,  north  of  Hudson's  Strait,  and  from  there 
with  his  boat  and  the  native  helpers  he  intended  to  make 
his  way  to  King  William  Land  and  the  adjoining  coun- 
try. He  took  with  him  from  the  United  States,  May  29, 
18G0,  an  Eskimo  interpreter,  Kudlago,  whom  Captain 
Budington  of  the  George  Henry  had  brought  back  on  a 
previous  voyage. 

In  crossing  the  Banks  of  Newfoundland  Kudlago  took 
a  severe  cold,  and  failed  rapidly.  An  eider-duck  was 
shot  for  him,  but  he  could  eat  only  a  small  portion,  the 
heart  and  liver,  both  raw.  He  longed  to  get  home,  ami 
asked  frequently,  "  Teek-ko  se-ko  ?  teek-ko  se-ko  ?  "  — 
Do  you  see  ice  ?  do  you  see  ice  ?  He  died  Sunday  morn- 
ing, near  the  coast  of  Greenland,  about  three  hundred 
miles  front  his  home,  asking  pitifully  at  the  last,  "Do 
you  see  ice  ?  "     He  was  buried  at  sea. 

When  the  ship  reached  her  anchorage,  and  Kudlago's 
family  came  to  meet  him,  there  was  deep  sorrow.  As 
the  wife  "looked  at  us,"  says  Hall,  "and  then  at  the 
chest  where   Kudlago   had   kept   his  things,  and  which 


320  SIR   JOHN   FRANKLIN  AND    OTHERS. 

Captain  Budington  now  opened,  the  tears  flowed  faster 
and  faster,  showing  that  nature  is  as  much  susceptible 
of  all  the  softer  feelings  among  these  children  of  the 
North  as  with  us  in  the  warmer  South.  But  her  grief 
could  hardly  be  controlled  when  the  treasures  Kudlago 
had  gathered  in  the  States  for  her  and  his  little  girl  were 
exhibited.  She  sat  herself  down  upon  the  chest,  and 
pensively  bent  her  head  in  deep,  unfeigned  sorrow." 

Hall  lost  his  expedition  boat  on  Frobisher  Bay,  which 
loss  was  a  severe  blow.  His  original  plans  of  going  to 
King  William  Island  were  therefore  given  up;  but  he 
lived  among  the  Eskimos  for  more  than  two  years, 
studying  their  customs  and  language,  making  sledge 
journeys,  discovering  relics  of  the  expedition  of  Sir  Mar- 
tin Frobisher,  three  hundred  years  before,  ever  having 
in  mind  the  one  purpose  in  the  future  to  search  for 
the  lost  men  of  the  Erebus  and  Terror. 

Hall  ascertained  that  "  Frobisher's  Strait "  was  not  a 
strait,  but  a  bay.  On  his  return  to  America,  Sept.  13, 1862, 
he  brought  with  him  two  valuable  Eskimo  helpers 
Ebierbing  (Joe)  and  Too-koo-litoo,  his  wife  (Hannah), 
who  had  lived  twenty  months  in  England,  and  spoke 
English  well. 

He  at  once  began  preparations  for  a  second  expedi- 
tion, lecturing  to  earn  money,  putting  forth  almost 
superhuman  energy  to  interest  the  country  in  the  enter- 
prise. In  his  private  note-books  were  found  underscored 
such  sentences  as  these  :  "  Our  greatest  glory  consists 
not  in  falling,  but  in  rising  every  time  Ave  fall."  "The 
question  is  not  the  number  of  facts  a  man  knows,  but 
how  much  of  a  fact  he  is  himself." 

Mr.  Henry  Grinnell  had  already  given  a  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand   dollars  for  Arctic  research,  and   had  met 


* 


. 


SIB   JOHN   FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  321 

with  losses.  The  nation  was  engaged  in  the  Civil  War, 
and  money  was  not  at  hand  for  the  enterprise.  Hall 
therefore  again  accepted  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  R.  II. 
Chapell  of  the  firm  of  Williams  &  Haven,  New  London, 
and  took  free  passage  for  himself,  his  native  helpers,  and 
his  boat,  twenty-eight  feet  long,  in  the  whaler  Monticello, 
July  1,  18G4. 

The  ship  landed  at  Depot  Island  in  the  southern 
part  of  Sir  Thomas  Howe's  Welcome,  north  of  Hud- 
son's Bay,  and  here  Hall  began  his  five  years  of  life  among 
the  Eskimos,  living  with  them  in  their  Ljloos,  or 
snow  huts,  eating  their  raw  food,  becoming  their  friend 
and  confidant,  and  learning  all  he  could  of  the  Franklin 
party. 

Now  they  shot  a  walrus  weighing  two  thousand  two 
hundred  pounds,  and  now  a  seal,  after  watching  whole 
nights  near  the  seal-hole  in  the  ice  to  spear  it  when 
it  came  up  to  breathe.  He  heard  from  the  Eski- 
mos near  Depot  Island  that  two  ships  were  lost  some 
years  before,  and  the  Kob-lu-nas  (white  men)  were 
starved  or  frozen,  all  but  four,  Captain  Crozier  and  three 
others,  who  passed  a  winter  with  the  tribe  with  whom 
Hall  was  staying.  "Crozier  and  the  three  men  with  him 
were  very  hungry,"  the  Eskimos  told  Hall,  as  Pro- 
fessor Nourse  relates  in  Hall's  "  Second  Arctic  Expedi- 
tion," published  by  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  in 
1879.  "Crozier,  though  nearly  starved  and  very  thin, 
would  not  eat  a  bit  of  the  Kob-lu-nas  (the  bodies  of 
white  men)  ;  he  waited  till  an  Innuit  who  was  with  him 
and  the  three  men  caught  a  seal,  and  then  Crozier  only 
ate  one  mouthful,  one  little  bit  first  time.  Next  time 
Crozier  ate  of  the  seal,  he  took  a  little  larger  piece, 
though  that  was  a  little  bit  too.     One  man  of  the  whole 


322        SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

number  four  died  because  he  was  sick.  The  others  all 
lived  and  grew  fat,  and  finally  Crozier  got  one  InniTit 
with  his  kayak  to  accompany  him  and  the  two  men  in 
trying  to  get  to  the  Kob-lu-nas  country  by  travelling  to 
the  southward." 

The  Eskimos  said  that  Crozier  and  one  of  the  men 
reached  Chesterfield  Inlet,  on  the  west  of  Hudson's  Bay, 
and  visited  the  natives  there,  and  were  trying  to  reach 
Fort  Churchill  or  York  Factory  lower  down  on  the  bay. 
Before  they  reached  the  Great  Fish  Biver  Franklin's 
men  had  a  fight  with  the  Indians,  —  not  the  Eskimos, 
—  and  several  Indians  were  killed,  but  no  whites. 

The  Eskimos  became  good  friends  to  Hall,  loaned 
him  their  dogs,  and  in  every  way  tried  to  help  the 
search.  In  the  spring  of  1866,  after  wintering  at  Fort 
Hope,  where  Dr.  Bae's  headquarters  were,  at  the  north- 
east corner  of  Bepulse  Bay,  Hall  started  toward  King 
William  Island.  About  six  miles  above  Cape  Weynton, 
on  Committee  Bay,  at  the  lower  part  of  Boothia  Gulf,  he 
met  some  Eskimos  whose  chief  gave  Hall  two  spoons, 
which  he  said  were  given  him  by  Aglooka  (Crozier)  ;  on 
one  were  the  letters,  F.  B.  M.  C.  The  wife  of  the  chief 
had  a  silver  watch  case.  The  natives  told  Hannah,  the 
Eskimos,  that  they  had  been  alongside  the  ships ;  had 
seen  the  great  Eshemutta  (Franklin).  "  This  Eshemutta 
was  an  old  man  with  broad  shoulders,  gray  hair,  full 
face,  and  bald  head.  He  was  always  wearing  something 
over  his  eyes"  (spectacles,  Hannah  said).  "He  was 
quite  lame  and  sick  when  they  last  saw  him.  He  was 
always  very  kind,  wanted  them  to  eat  constantly,  very 
cheerful  and  laughing;  everybody  liked  him.  .  .  .  The 
ship  was  crushed  by  the  ice.  While  it  was  sinking  the 
men  worked  for  their  lives,  but  before  they  could  get  much 


SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  ANT)    OTHERS.  323 

out  from  the  vessel  she  sank.  For  this  reason  Aglooka 
(Crozier)  died  of  starvation,  for  he  could  not  get  provis- 
ions to  carry  with  him  on  his  land  journey." 

The  Eskimos  further  said  that  for  a  long  time  they 
feared  to  go  on  the  other  ship.  But  on  seeing  one  man 
alive  on  her,  they  went  and  took  what  they  wanted; 
afterwards  they  found  two  boats  with  dead  men  in  them. 
They  saw  a  cairn  and  many  papers,  which  had  been 
given  to  the  children  or  thrown  away.  One  Eskimo 
had  slept  near  the  cairn,  wrapping  himself  in  blankets 
taken  from  some  banked-up  clothing.  A  skeleton  was 
near  the  pile.  (We  know  there  was  such  a  pile  near  the 
Point  Victory  cairn.) 

After  further  exploration  Hall  was  obliged  to  winter 
at  Repulse  Bajr,  as  the  Eskimos  were  afraid  of  hostile 
tribes.  He  was  cheered  this  winter  by  a  letter  from 
Lady  Franklin,  expressing  the  deepest  sympathy  in  his 
work. 

Hearing  that  some  of  Franklin's  men  were,  or  had 
been,  on  the  shores  of  Fury  and  Hecla  Straits,  having 
probably  crossed  Boothia  Gulf,  Hall  went  thither  a. id 
passed  a  season  in  exploring.  The  natives  described 
men  who  wore  caps  on  their  heads  and  overcoats  with 
hoods  ;  footprints  long  and  narrow,  with  deep  places  in 
the  heel,  and  the  tread  always  outward.  These  had  been 
seen  as  late  as  18G4.  Probably  some  white  men  had 
been  there,  but  it  is  not  known  who. 

Professor  Nourse,  in  his  "American  Explorations  in 
the  Tee  Zones,"  repeats  a  story  told  by  Captain  William 
Adams,  of  the  Dundee  Whaler  Arctic  (who  took  the 
Polaris  party  from  the  "Raven's  Craig"  to  Dundee  in 
his  ship  from  whence  they  went  to  New  York)  on  his 
return  from  a  cruise  as  late  as  1881.     While   his  ship 


324  SIR  JOIIN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

was  within  fifteen  miles  of  Fury  and  Hecla  Straits  an 
intelligent  Eskimo  told  him  that  when  he  was  a  young 
man  in  his  father's  hut,  —  probably  about  thirty-five 
years  before,  —  in  1848,  three  men  came  over  the  land 
toward  Repulse  Bay.  The  great  "  Araigak,"  or  captain, 
died  and  the  other  two,  who  cried  very  much,  lived  some 
time  in  the  hut  and  finally  died.  The  Eskimos  showed 
Captain  Adams  on  the  chart  where  they  were  buried. 
The  Eskimos  said  years  before  two  vessels  had  been 
lost  far  to  the  westward,  and  that  seventeen  men  came 
over  the  country,  but  only  three  survived  to  reach  his 
father's  hut. 

In  the  spring  of  18G9  Hall  started  for  King  William 
Island  with  a  party  of  natives,  five  men,  three  women, 
and  two  children  and  a  baby  in  the  hood  of  its  mother. 
The  load  of  one  sled  was  twenty-eight  hundred  pounds ; 
the  other  twenty-five  hundred. 

At  Sheppard's  Bay,  a  little  to  the  east  of  King 
William  Island,  they  met  Eskimos  who  said  they  had 
seen  Crozier,  a  telescope  about  his  neck  and  a  gun  in 
his  hand,  and  about  forty-five  men,  in  July,  1848,  a  few 
miles  above  Cape  Herschel,  dragging  two  sleds.  Crozier 
was  putting  up  a  tent  for  the  night.  They  gave  him 
some  meat,  as  he  and  his  party  seemed  very  hungry. 
During  the  night  the  Eskimos  stole  away  from  them, 
fearful  probably  that  they  might  be  asked  to  share  their 
food  with  the  white  men,  and  they  had  none  to  spare. 
The  next  spring  they  found  the  bodies  of  the  white  men, 
but  did  not  see  Crozier's,  so  they  believed  he  had  been 
saved  and  gone  back  to  his  country.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  they  told  Dr.  Rae  one  of  the  bodies  on  the 
island,  perhaps  Todd  Island,  had  a  telescope  over  its 
shoulder  and  a  double-barrelled  gun  lay  under  it. 


SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND    OTHERS.  325 

Farther  on  Hall  heard  that  one  of  the  ships  had 
drifted  to  the  shores  of  O'Reilly's  Island,  off  the  south- 
west coast  of  King  William  Island,  and  that  some 
white  men  had  passed  the  winter  on  her  —  possibly  those 
who  went  back  with  the  boat  —  and  then  abandoned  her. 
Later  the  natives  broke  into  the  cabin  and  found  one 
very  large  man  there — dead.  The  ship  subsequently 
was  so  broken  by  the  ice  that  she  sank,  but  not  till  they 
had  obtained  a  great  deal  of  wood  from  the  wreck. 

The  natives  told  him  he  would  find  five  graves 
or  bodies  on  Todd  Island,  on  the  southern  shore  of  King 
William  Island.  He  went  and  found  human  bones  in 
several  places.  On  the  mainland,  Adelaide  Peninsula,  he 
found  an  entire  skeleton  which  was  afterwards  sent 
to  England.  It  was  identified  as  the  body  of  Lieuten- 
ant Le  Vesconte,  by  the  filling  in  the  teeth. 

The  Eskimos  further  said  that  east  of  Pfeffer 
River,  on  the  seashore,  near  Todd  Island,  two  had  died 
and  been  buried  ;  live  miles  eastward  another  ;  on  the 
west  of  Point  Richardson,  nearby,  had  been  found  an  awn- 
ing-covered boat,  with  the  remains  of  more  than  thirty  ; 
and  on  the  western  part  of  King  William  Island,  a 
little  way  inland  from  Terror  Bay  above  Cape  Herschel, 
a  large  tent  was  found  whose  floor  was  completely  cov- 
ered with  bodies. 

Hall  brought  away  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
pounds'  weight  of  relics,  —  a  boat,  a  mahogany  writing- 
desk,  many  pieces  of  silver  plate,  —  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  things  in  all,  and  only  regretted  he  could  not 
bring  more,  as  he  said  the  relics  are  possessed,  "by  na- 
tives all  over  the  Arctic  regions  from  Pond's  Bay  to 
Mackenzie  River." 

ll;dl  returned  to  America  in  the  fall  of  1869,  and  imme- 


326  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

diately  began  to  prepare  for  another  Arctic  expedition, 
this  time  in  search  of  the  North  Pole,  having  become  sat- 
isfied that  all  of  the  Franklin  party  were  dead. 

Hall  sailed  from  New  London  July  3,  1871,  in  the 
steamer  Polaris,  and  stopped  in  Greenland  for  Eskimos 
and  dogs  (Hans  Hendrick,  the  dog-driver,  brought  aboard 
his  wife,  three  children,  boxes,  bundles,  and  several 
puppies  whose  eyes  could  scarcely  bear  the  light),  and 
carried  his  ship  up  Smith's  Sound  to  a  higher  northern 
latitude  than  had  been  reached  by  any  other  vessel,  82  ° 
16',  two  hundred  miles  north  of  Kane's  highest  point. 
Here  she  was  beset  by  ice,  but  eventually  went  into  win- 
ter quarters  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  sound  at  a  place 
which  Hall  named  Thank  God  Harbor.  A  great  iceberg 
protected  them,  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long,  and  three 
hundred  feet  broad,  and  probably  one  hundred  and  eighty 
feet  deep.     Hall  called  this  Providence  Berg. 

Near  the  middle  of  October,  Hall  started  oh  a  sledge 
journey  to  prospect  his  route  towards  the  Pole.  He 
saw  and  named  Robeson's  Strait,  after  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  ;  Newman  Bay,  after  Rev.  Dr.  Newman  ;  also  Sum- 
ner Cape  and  Brevoort  Cape.  Immediately  on  his  return, 
Oct.  24,  expecting  to  start  again  in  two  days,  he  had 
an  apoplectic  attack,  and  expired  at  3.25,  a.m.,  Nov.  8, 
1871.  The  crew  were  two  days  in  digging  a  grave  twenty- 
six  inches  deep  for  the  devoted  and  self-sacrificing  ex- 
plorer. The  work  was  done  by  the  light  of  lanterns,  as 
the  daytime  was  all  darkness  there.  At  11.  a.m.  the  ship's 
bell  tolled,  the  coffin  was  placed  on  a  sled,  and  two  by 
two  the  officers  and  crew  bore  their  precious  burden. 
The  sobs  of  Hannah  mingled  with  the  sound  of  the  fro- 
zen earth  falling  upon  the  coffin. 

"  Joe  and  his  wife,"  says  Rear  Admiral  C.  H.  Davis  in 


SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTIIERS.         327 

his  "  Polaris  Expedition/'  "  were  almost  lieart-broken. 
They  had  looked  upon  Hall  as  a  father  for  nearly  ten 
years  ;  they  never  could  hope  to  find  any  one  who  would 
take  his  place.  They  had  been  with  him  in  many  trials 
and  dangers  ;  they  had  often  saved  his  life ;  they  felt 
alone  in  the  world." 

Five  years  afterwards,  May  13,  1876,  Captain  Stephen- 
son, of  the  Sir  George  Nares  English  expedition,  in  the 
presence  of  twenty-four  officers  hoisted  the  American 
ilag  over  the  grave  of  Captain  Hall,  and  erected  a  brass 
tablet  which  had  been  prepared  in  England.  On  it  were 
these  words :  — 

"Sacred  to  the  memory  of 

Captain  C.  F.  Hall, 

of  the  U.  S.  S.  Polaris, 

who  sacrificed  his  life  in  the  advancement  of  Science,  Nov.  8,  1871. 

This  tablet  has  heen  erected  by  the  British  Polar  expedition  of  1875, 

who,  following  in  his  footsteps,  have  profited  by  his  experience."' 

Such  international  courtesy  was  warmly  appreciated  by 
the  American  people. 

The  loss  to  the  expedition  through  Hall's  death  was 
irreparable.  As  the  ship  was  much  damaged  by  ice,  and 
the  coal  supply  was  inadequate,  it  was  decided  to  return 
home  in  the  following  August  without  further  attempts 
to  go  North.  After  leaving  Thank  God  Harbor  the  Po- 
laris entered  a  pack,  and  was  tied  to  a  floe,  drifting 
down  the  channel  into  Baffin's  Bay.  She  leaked  badly. 
Oct.  15  the  floe  to  which  she  was  attached  broke  up  in  a 
storm ;  and  it  was  decided  to  abandon  her  and  try  to  save 
the  provisions,  clothing,  and  boats  by  hastily  throwing 
them  out  on  the  ice.  Suddenly,  in  the  gloom  of  the  night, 
the  Polaris  with  fourteen  men  on  board  parted  from  the 
floe,  and     left    the    bewildered    company   alone.      The 


328  SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN   AND   OTHERS. 

steward  called  out  in  the  darkness,  "  Good-by  Po- 
laris !  " 

On  the  floe,  a  hundred  yards  long  and  seventy-five 
broad,  were  Captain  Tyson,  the  assistant  navigator,  nine 
men  belonging  to  the  Polaris,  besides  nine  Eskimos, 
including  three  women  and  a  baby  eight  weeks  old  christ- 
ened Charles  Polaris.  Several  men  were  brought  in  by 
boat  from  the  small  pieces  of  ice  broken  from  the  floe- 
All  huddled  together  in  a  blinding  snowstorm  under  some 
musk-ox  skins.  They  built  a  house  from  materials  thrown 
out  from  the  ship,  and  they  made  some  snow  huts,  and 
lived  on  food  procured  for  them  by  Joe  and  Hans,  the 
Eskimos;  they  had  some  food  also  which  had  been 
thrown  out  from  the  ship. 

In  this  perilous  condition  they  drifted  down  Baffin's 
Bay  and  Davis  Strait,  the  floe  crumbling,  the  sea  some- 
times washing  over  it,  and  finally  were  obliged  to  take 
to  their  one  boat,  the  other  having  been  used  for  fuel. 
After  drifting  fifteen  hundred  miles  in  one  hundred 
and  ninety-six  days,  the  men  were  picked  up  off  the  coast 
of  Labrador  by  the  English  ship  Tigress.  The  journey 
was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  thrilling  on  record. 
All  were  saved,  even  the  baby.  The  Polaris  was  driven 
helplessly  on  shore  in  Lifeboat  Cove,  Littleton  Island,  on 
the  east  side  of  Smith  Sound,  where  the  Etah  Eskimos 
provided  much  food  for  the  sufferers.  During  the  winter 
they  built  a  house  from  the  wreck  of  the  ship;  and  the 
Eskimos  improved  the  opportunity  to  become  perma- 
nent visitors  to  the  number  of  one  hundred  men.  women, 
and  children,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  dogs.  The  men 
built  two  boats  and  embarked  in  them  June  3,  and  were 
picked  up  by  the  Dundee  whaler,  Ravenscraig,  in  Mel- 
ville P-ay. 


SIR   JOHN    FRANKLIN   AND   OTHERS.  329 

The  devoted  Eskimos,  Joe  and  Hannah,  who  saved 
the  lives  of  the  Tyson  party  by  their  hunting  and  care, 
would  not  escape  to  their  Greenland  home  when  they 
had  the  opportunity,  and  when,  as  Professor  J.  E.  Nourse 
says,  "there  were  just  grounds  of  fear  within  their 
breasts  that,  in  the  almost  famishing  condition  of  the 
white  men,  some  of  them  might  make  the  Eskimos 
the  first  victims,  if  the  direst  necessity  should  come." 
They  settled  at  their  home  in  Groton  Conn.,  purchased 
for  them  by  "  Father  Hall,"  as  they  called  the  explorer. 
Joe  became  a  carpenter;  and  Hannah,  with  the  aid  of 
her  sewing-machine,  made  furs  and  other  articles  for 
the  people  of  New  London  and  Groton. 

Their  first  child  died  in  New  York  in  1863  ;  the  second, 
on  King  William  Island  in  1866 ;  a  third,  adopted  by 
them,  called  Sylvia  (Punna),  who  went  to  school  in 
Groton,  died  in  1875,  at  the  age  of  nine  years.  When- 
ever a  child  dies,  the  mother  collects  all  its  playthings 
and  puts  them  upon  its  grave.  Hannah  died  of  con- 
sumption Dec.  31,  1876,  at  the  age  of  thirty-eight. 
Her  last  words  were,  "Come,  Lord  Jesus,  and  take  thy 
poor  creature  home  !  " 

In  1878,  when  Professor  Nourse  visited  Hannah's 
grave,  Joe  knelt  beside  it  and  carefully  weeded  out  the 
Long  grass.  "Hannah  gone!  Punna  gone!"  he  said; 
"  me  go  now  again  to  King  William  Land  ;  if  have  to 
fight,  me  no  (•arc.'' 

Joe  went  with  Lieutenant  Frederick  Schwatka  in  the 
Franklin  search  party,  June  19,  1878,  and  did  not  return 
to  the  United  Slates. 

One  more  and  perhaps  final  effort  was  made  to  dis- 
cover for  a  certainty  the  fate  of  the  Franklin  expedi- 
tion.    In  the  summer  of   1878  Schwatka,  of  the  Third 


830         SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

United  States  Cavalry,  American  by  birth  and  Polish 
by  descent,  with  William  H.  Gilder  second  in  command, 
were  taken  out  from  New  York  in  the  whaler  Eothen, 
and  landed  near  Chesterfield  Inlet,  on  the  west  of  Hud- 
son's Bay.  Captain  Barry  of  the  Eothen  had  been  told 
by  the  Eskimos  at  Repulse  Bay,  as  had  Captain 
Adams,  of  the  coming  among  them  of  a  "  stranger  in 
uniform,  accompanied  by  other  white  men."  The  chief 
had  collected  a  great  quantity  of  papers,  and  left  them 
in  a  cairn,  where  silver  spoons  and  other  things  had 
been  found.  The  Eskimo  at  Marble  Island  below  Ches- 
terfield Inlet  also  said,  looking  at  Barry's  log-book,  that 
the  white  chief  used  a  similar  book,  and  the  Eski- 
mos gave  Barry  a  spoon  engraved  with  the  word 
"  Franklin."  The  spoon  bore  Franklin's  crest,  and  un- 
doubtedly belonged  to  him.  It  was  sent  to  Miss  Sophia 
Cracroft,  London,  niece  of  Sir  John  Franklin. 

Schwatka  wintered  on  the  mainland,  near  Depot 
Island,  at  the  top  of  Hudson  Bay,  and  April  1,  1879, 
began  his  unecpialled  sledge  journey  of  three  thousand 
two  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  accompanied  by  thirteen 
Eskimos,  men,  women,  and  children.  Forty-two  dogs 
drew  the  sleds  with  six  months'  food  for  seventeen 
people,  about  five  thousand  pounds.  They  depended  for 
meat  largely  upon  animals  to  be  killed  during  the 
journey. 

Crossing  a  branch  of  the  Great  Fish  River,  they  named 
it  Hayes,  after  President  Rutherford  B.  Hayes.  On  this 
river  they  met  a  party  of  Ook-joo-liks,  whose  chief  told 
them  of  Franklin's  men.  His  family  comprised  nearly 
all  the  tribe  which  was  left  of  that  once  occupying  the 
western  coast  of  Adelaide  Peninsula  and  King  William 
Land.    He  told  about  the  same  story  which  Captain  Hall 


SIB  JOHN   FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  331 

had  heard.  He  bad  seen  "  a  white  man  dead  in  a  bunk 
of  a  big  ship,"  when  his  son,  about  thirty-five,  was  a  child. 
He  saw  tracks  of  white  men  on  the  mainland,  at  first  the 
footprints  of  four,  afterwards  only  of  three.  His  people 
did  not  know  how  to  get  inside  of  the  stranded  ship  at 
first ;  but  they  finally  cut  a  hole  level  with  the  ice,  and 
later  the  ship  filled  and  sank.  They  saw  sweepings 
outside  the  ship,  which  seemed  to  have  been  brushed  off 
by  the  people  living  on  board.  They  found  some  red 
cans  of  fresh  meat,  with  tallow  mixed.  Many  had  been 
opened,  and  four  were  unopened.  They  saw  books  on 
board,  and  left  them  there ;  they  took  away  many 
knives,  forks,  spoons,  and  pans. 

The  son-in-law  of  the  chief,  when  about  fourteen  years 
old,  saw  "  two  boats  come  down  Back's  River ;  one  had 
eight  men  in  it,  and  he  did  not  count  those  in  the  other 
boat.  He  had  seen  a  cairn  on  Montreal  Island,  and 
found  therein  a  pocket-knife,  a  pair  of  scissors,  and  some 
fish-hooks." 

The  Schwatka  party  pushed  on  to  the  west  of  Richard- 
son Point,  on  Adelaide  Peninsula,  and  there  met  the 
Neitchilles,  a  tribe  of  Eskimos  usually  hostile.  An  old 
man  told  the  party  that  he  had  seen  a  number  of  skel- 
etons three  or  four  miles  west  of  there ;  had  seen 
books  and  papers  scattered  along  the  shore  and  back 
from  the  beach;  knives  and  forks,  a  boat  broken  up  by 
the  natives  to  make  wooden  implements,  and  some  gold 
and  silver  watches  given  to  the  children. 

Another  man  said  he  had  picked  up  tin  cans,  pieces  of 
bottles,  iron,  etc.,  only  the  last  summer  on  an  island  off 
(J rant  Point,  near  O'Reilly's  Island,  where  the  natives 
said  a  ship  was  sunk  off  the  south-east  coast  of  King 
William  Island.     A  map  being  shown  him,  he  pointed  t<> 


332  SIR   JOHN  FRANKLIN   AND   OTHERS. 

a  place  eight  miles  west  of  Grant  Point.  All  this  tended 
to  prove  the  story  that  several  men  sailed  on  the  ship 
down  to  Simpson's  Strait,  thus  making  the  north-west 
passage  before  they  abandoned  her.  It  seems  possible 
that  this  was  the  Terror,  from  a  block  found  at  Wilmot 
Bay  with  0  It  or  10  on  it,  with  part  of  the  R  obliterated. 
Schwatka  and  his  men  visited  the  cove  west  of  Richard- 
son Point,  where  Hall  had  been  told  of  the  awning- 
covered  boat  and  skeletons,  since  called  Starvation 
Cove.  The  natives  said  the  boat  was  turned  upside 
down,  and  the  skeletons  were  beneath  it.  One  skeleton 
Was  found  five  miles  farther  inland.  Later  they  learned 
from  an  Eskimo  that  in  this  cove  was  "a  tin  case 
about  two  feet  long  and  a  foot  square,  which  was  fas- 
tened, and  they  broke  it  open.  It  was  full  of  books 
written  and  printed,  the  last  precious  records  of  the 
despairing  company.  Among  the  books  the  Eskimos 
saw  probably  the  needle  of  a  compass,  as  the  needle  stuck 
fast  to  any  iron  which  it  touched.  The  boat  was  then  right 
side  up,  and  the  tin  case  in  it.  The  books  were  taken  home 
for  the  children  to  play  with,  and  finally  torn  and  lost, 
or  lay  among  the  rocks  till  carried  away  by  the  wind,  or 
destroyed  by  the  storms.  There  were  also  several  pairs 
of  gold  spectacles  and  gold  watches,  doubtless  belong- 
ing to  officers.  The  Eskimos  believed  that  the  white 
men  were  driven  to  cannibalism  to  preserve  life.  One 
woman,  about  fifty-five,  Ahlangyah,  told  them  that  on 
the  eastern  coast  of  Washington  Bay,  on  the  south  shore 
of  King  William  Island,  years  ago  she  saw  ten  men 
dragging  a  sledge  with  a  boat  on  it.  Eive  of  the  men 
put  up  a  tent  on  the  shore,  and  five  remained  in  the 
boat  on  the  ice.  The  Eskimos  erected  a  tent  also,  and 
they  stayed  together  five  days.     They  killed  a  number 


SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS.  333 

of  seals  and  gave  them  to  the  white  men,  who  were  very- 
thin,  and  their  mouths  dry,  hard,  and  black.  They  had 
no  fur  clothing  on.  One  man's  name  was  Aglooka  (this 
was  the  name  they  always  applied  to  Crozier)  ;  another, 
"  Toolooah,"  —  it  probably  sounded  like  that  to  the  Eski- 
mos, —  was  bigger  than  any  of  the  others  and  older. 
Doktook  (Doctor)  was  a  short  man  with  a  red  beard.  All 
three  wore  spectacles,  not  ice-goggles.  All  started  for 
Adelaide  Peninsula  at  night,  because  the  ice  would  be 
thicker  at  that  time. 

She  also  saw  a  tent  on  the  shore  at  the  head  of  Terror 
Bay  the  next  spring,  probably  1849.  (This  was  the 
same  tent  described  to  Hall.)  There  were  dead  bodies 
inside,  and  outside  some  were  covered  with  sand.  There 
was  no  flesh  on  the  bodies ;  the  cords  and  sinews  only 
were  left.  There  were  knives,  forks,  watches,  clothing, 
and  many  books.  There  were  one  or  two  graves  also. 
They  were  not  the  same  party  she  saw  going  to  Ade- 
laide Peninsula.  Tears  filled  her  eyes  as  she  recited  the 
story. 

The  Eskimos  went  faster  than  the  whites,  and  never 
saw  them  again. 

The  Schwatka  party  proceeded  up  the  west  coast  of 
King  William  Island  till  they  reached  Cape  Jane  Frank- 
lin, near  Victory  Point,  where  they  found  the  camping- 
place  of  the  men  after  they  abandoned  the  ships.  There 
were  cooking-stoves,  kettles,  and  an  open  grave,  with 
a  quantity  of  blue  cloth,  which  seemed  to  have  been  a 
heavy  overcoat,  wrapped  about  the  body.  A  silver  medal 
was  found,  a  mathematical  prize  from  the  Royal  Naval 
College  to  John  Irving,  midsummer,  1830.  Under  the 
head  was  a  figured  silk  handkerchief  neatly  folded.  The 
grave  was  identified  as  that  of  Lieutenant  John  Irving, 


334         SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  AND   OTHERS. 

third  officer  of  the  Terror.  The  bones  were  gathered 
up  and  brought  home  by  Schwatka,  and  returned  to  his 
grateful  relatives  in  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  where  they 
were  buried  with  due  honor. 

At  several  places  on  the  western  shore  of  King  Wil- 
liam Island  they  found  human  bones,  that  were  buried 
by  them.  At  Terror  Bay  the  sea  evidently  had  washed 
away  all  traces  of  the  tent  and  its  "  floor  covered  with 
remains."  Some  graves  were  also  found  which  had 
been  opened  by  the  Eskimos. 

The  Schwatka  party  reached  Depot  Island,  March  4, 
1880,  after  their  sledge  journey  of  more  than  eleven 
months.  They  suffered  much  from  lack  of  food  during 
the  latter  part  of  the  journey,  twenty-seven  of  their 
dogs,  or  half  the  original  number,  dying  from  exhaus- 
tion or  scarcity  of  provisions.  From  Depot  Island  they 
returned  to  the  fort,  bringing  many  relics  of  the  Frank- 
lin expedition,  among  them  two  sledges  seen  by  M'Clin- 
tock,  which  had  at  that  time  the  boat  upon  them,  with 
the  two  skeletons. 

Schwatka  received  the  Gold  Medal  of  the  Geographical 
Society  of  Paris.  After  the  Franklin  Search  Expedition 
he  explored  the  Yukon  River  in  Alaska  for  the  gov- 
ernment, floating  cjown  the  river  on  a  raft  for  1,305  miles. 
It  was  found  to  be  navigable  for  1,866  miles.  In  1889  he 
explored  Old  Mexico.  He  died  in  Portland,  Oregon, 
Nov.  2,  1892,  at  the  age  of  forty -three  years.  He  was 
buried  at  Salem,  Oregon. 

Whether  all  the  Franklin  party  died  during  the  sum- 
mer of  1848,  or  a  few  of  them  lingered  for  some  years 
among  the  Eskimos,  is  only  conjecture.  That  the  Eski- 
mos saw  more  than  one  party  is  probable  ;  but  all  at  last 
met  the  same  lonely  death,  in  want  of  aid  which  came 
too  late. 


SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN   AND   OTHERS.  835 

Lady  Franklin,  the  devoted  wife,  lived  until  1875, 
twenty -eight  years  after  her  husband's  death.  One  of 
her  last  acts  was  the  erection  of  a  marble  monument  to 
Sir  John  in  Westminster  Abbey,  for  which  Tennyson, 
who  married  Franklin's  niece,  wrote  the  epitaph. 

"  Not  here  !    The  white  North  hath  thy  hones,  and  thou, 

Heroic  Sailor  Soul  ! 
Art  passing  on  thy  happier  voyage  now 
Towards  no  earthly  pole." 

It  was  unveiled  two  weeks  after  her  death.  The 
late  Dean  Stanley  added  to  the  words  on  the  monument, 
that  it  was  "erected  by  his  widow,  who,  after  long  wait- 
ing and  sending  many  in  search  of  him,  herself  departed 
to  seek  him  in  the  realms  of  light,  18th  July,  1875,  aged 
eighty-three  years." 


DAVID   LIVINGSTONE. 


"A   MORE  perfect  example  of   a  downright  simply 

-lA-  honest  life,  whether  in  contact  with  queens  or 
slave-boys,  one  may  safely  say  is  not  on  record  on  our 
planet."  Such  is  the  testimony  of  Thomas  Hughes,  the 
well-known  author  of  "  School  Days  at  Rugby,"  con- 
cerning the  distinguished  explorer,  David  Livingstone. 

Similar  testimony  is  given  by  Henry  M.  Stanley,  the 
heroic  African  traveller :  "  Four  months  and  four  days 
I  lived  with  him  in  the  same  house,  or  in  the  same  boat, 
or  in  the  same  tent,  and  I  never  found  a  fault  in  him. 
I  am  a  man  of  a  quick  temper,  and  often  without  suffi- 
cient cause,  I  dare  say,  have  broken  the  ties  of  friend- 
ship ;  but  with  Livingstone  I  never  had  cause  for 
resentment,  but  each  day's  life  with  him  added  to  my 
admiration  for  him." 

Again  Stanley  writes  :  "  His  religion  is  a  constant, 
earnest,  sincere  practice.  It  is  neither  demonstrative 
nor  loud,  but  manifests  itself  in  a  quiet,  practical  way, 
and  is  always  at  work.  In  him  religion  exhibits  its 
loveliest  features;  it  governs  his  conduct  not  only 
towards  his  servants,  but  towards  the  natives,  the  big- 
oted Mahommedans,  and  all  who  come  in  contact  with 
him." 

Florence  Nightingale  thought  him   "  the  greatest  mail 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  337 

of  his  generation  ;  for  Dr.  Livingstone  "  said  she,  "  stood 
alone.  There  are  few  enough,  but  a  few  statesmen. 
There  are  few  enough,  but  a  few  great  in  medicine,  or  in 
art,  or  in  poetry.  There  are  a  few  great  travellers.  But 
Dr.  Livingstone  stood  alone  as  the  great  Missionary  Trav- 
eller, the  bringer-in  of  civilization ;  or  rather  the  pioneer 
of  civilization  —  he  that  cometh  before  —  to  races  lying 
in  darkness." 

Sir  Bartle  Frere,  president  of  the  Royal  Geographi- 
cal Society,  said,  '-'I  never  met  his  equal  for  energy  and 
sagacity."  Sir  William  Fergusson,  eminent  in  medicine, 
wrote  to  the  Lancet  concerning  this  medical  mission- 
ary, "  There  has  been  among  us,  in  modern  times,  one  of 
the  greatest  men  of  the  human  race,  —  David  Living- 
stone." 

Poor,  a  worker  in  a  factory,  and  self-educated,  he  sleeps 
now  among  kings  and  the  noted  of  the  earth  in  West- 
minster Abbey. 

On  March  19,  1813,  in  a  humble  home  in  Blantyre, 
Scotland,  on  the  banks  of  the  Clyde,  was  born  David 
Livingstone.  He  was  the  second  son  in  a  family  of  five 
sons  and  two  daughters. 

The  father,  Neil  Livingstone,  apprenticed  to  a  tailor 
in  his  boyhood,  disliked  his  trade,  and  became  a  retail 
tea-dealer.  With  this  business,  which  seems  never  to 
have  been  very  profitable,  he  combined  that  of  tract- 
distributing  and  the  encouraging  of  reading  books.  He 
was  ardently  fond  of  good  literature,  especially  along 
the  theological  line,  and  gathered  into  his  home  what- 
ever his  scanty  money  would  permit  him  to  buy.  He 
was  an  earnest  worker  in  the  Sunday-school,  and  in 
missionary  societies,  and  a  total  abstainer  from  all  which 
intoxicates.  He  learned  Gaelic  that  he  might  read  the 
Bible  to  his  mother,  who  knew  that  language  best. 


338  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

David's  mother,  Agnes  Hunter,  was  a  gentle,  affec- 
tionate woman,  the  idol  of  her  household,  one  who  wore 
herself  out  to  make  a  little  go  a  great  way  in  the  poor 
man's  home.  David,  when  a  lad,  always  swept  and 
cleaned  for  her,  "even  under  the  door-mat,"  a  thing 
which  greatly  pleased  the  neat,  thrifty  mother.  He 
would  say  to  her,  remembering  the  eyes  of  the  boys  out- 
side, "  Mother,  if  you'll  bar  the  door,  I'll  scrub  the  floor 
for  you,"  —  "a  concession,"  says  Thomas  Hughes,  "  to 
the  male  prejudices  of  Blantyre  which  he  would  not 
have  made  in  later  life." 

Two  sons  died  early,  but  the  tea-trade  would  not 
support  even  those  which  were  left ;  so  at  ten  years  of 
age  little  David  had  to  go  into  the  cotton  factory  near 
by  as  a  piecer.  From  this  time  on  he  supported  him- 
self and  helped  his  mother.  The  first  half-crown  he 
ever  earned  he  laid  in  her  lap. 

His  father's  industry  and  his  mother's  cheer  made 
the  home  a  place  of  happiness.  After  the  hard  work  of 
the  day  was  over,  which  lasted  from  six  in  the  morn- 
ing till  eight  at  night,  the  evenings  were  spent  in  read- 
ing. It  was  the  habit  in  this  good  Scotch  family  to 
lock  the  door  at  dusk  ;  "  by  which  time,"  says  Dr.  W.  G. 
Blaikie  in  his  life  of  Livingstone,  "  all  the  children 
were  expected  to  be  in  the  house.  One  evening  David 
infringed  this  rule,  and  when  he  reached  the  door  it  was 
barred.  He  made  no  cry  nor  disturbance,  but,  having 
procured  a  piece  of  bread,  sat  down  contentedly  to  pass 
the  night  on  the  doorstep.  There,  on  looking  out,  his 
mother  found  him.  It  was  an  early  application  of  the 
rule  which  did  him  such  service  in  later  days, —  to  make 
the  best  of  the  least  pleasant  situations." 

With  a  part  of  his  first  week's  wages  at  the  mill  he 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  339 

purchased  Ruddiman's  "  Rudiments  of  Latin."  This  and 
other  books  he  studied  in  the  evening  school,  which 
lasted  from  eight  to  ten  o'clock.  "  The  dictionary  part  of 
my  labors,"  he  wrote  later  in  his  first  book,  "  Missionary 
Travels  and  Researches,"  "  was  followed  up  till  twelve 
o'clock,  or  later,  if  my  mother  did  not  interfere  by  jump- 
ing up  and  snatching  the  book  out  of  my  hands.  .  .  . 
I  read  in  this  way  many  of  the  classical  authors,  and 
knew  Virgil  and  Horace  better  at  sixteen  than  I  do 
now." 

David  read  everything  which  came  within  his  reach, 
especially  books  of  science  and  travels,  though  his 
father  much  preferred  that  he  would  confine  himself  to 
religious  books,  such  as  the  "  Cloud  of  Witnesses,"  and 
Boston's  "  Fourfold  State."  His  last  whipping  at  the 
hands  of  his  father  came  from  a  refusal  to  read  Wilber- 
force's  "  Practical  Christianity."  The  tract-distributer 
could  not  realize  that  the  rod  was  not  a  promoter  of 
piety.  For  years  after  this  David  disliked  religious 
reading  of  every  kind. 

In  every  spare  hour  he  scoured  the  country,  searching 
for  flowers,  specimens  of  rocks  or  of  animal  life,  his 
eager  mind  always  asking  the  reason  of  things.  With 
great  delight  he  was  gathering  shells  in  the  carbon- 
iferous limestone  around  Blantyre,  when  he  asked  a 
quarry-man  ("  who  looked,"  says  Livingstone,  "  with  that 
pitying  eye  which  the  benevolent  assume  when  viewing 
the  insane  "),  "  However  did  these  shells  come  into  these 
rocks  ?  " 

"  When  God  made  the  rocks,  he  made  the  shells  in 
them,"  was  the  sedate,  but  unconvincing  reply. 

"These  excursions,"  says  Livingstone,  "often  in  com- 
pany with  brothers,  one  now  in  Canada,  and  the  other  a 


840  DAVID   LIVINGSTONE. 

clergyman  in  the  United  States,  gratified  my  intense 
love  of  nature ;  and  though  we  generally  returned  so 
unmercifully  hungry  and  fatigued  that  the  embryo  parson 
shed  tears,  yet  we  discovered,  to  us,  so  many  new  and 
interesting  things,  that  he  was  always  as  eager  to  join  us 
next  time  as  he  was  the  last." 

On  one  of  these  excursions  they  caught  a  salmon,  —  it 
was  against  the  law  to  catch  salmon,  —  and  the  fish  was 
carried  home  secreted  in  the  trousers  leg  of  the  brother 
Charlie.  Though  the  boys  were  reproved  by  the  good 
colporteur,  the  fish  was  eaten  for  supper. 

After  more  than  eight  years  of  daily  labor  —  there 
could  be  little  childhood  about  such  a  life  — the  lad  was 
promoted  to  a  "  spinner's  "  position.  Day  after  day  he 
placed  his  book  on  a  portion  of  the  spinning-jenny,  "  so 
that  I  could,"  he  says,  "  catch  sentence  after  sentence  as 
I  passed  at  my  work ;  I  thus  kept  up  a  pretty  constant 
study,  undisturbed  by  the  roar  of  the  machinery.  To 
this  part  of  my  education  I  owe  my  present  power  of 
completely  abstracting  the  mind  from  surrounding  noises, 
so  as  to  read  and  write  with  perfect  comfort  amid  the 
play  of  children,  or  near  the  dancing  and  songs  of  sav- 
ages. The  toil  of  cotton-spinning  .  .  .  was  excessively 
severe  on  a  slim,  loose-jointed  lad,  but  it  was  well  paid 
for.   .  .  . 

"  Looking  back  now  on  that  life  of  toil,  I  cannot  but 
feel  thankful  that  it  formed  such  a  material  part  of  my 
early  education  ;  and,  were  it  possible,  I  should  like  to 
begin  life  over  again  in  the  same  lowly  style,  and  to 
pass  through  the  same  hardy  training." 

Livingstone  always  retained  his  love  for  the  poor,  and 
a  pride  in  his  honest  ancestry.  When  asked  to  change 
"  and  "  to  "  but  "  in  the  last  line  of  an  epitaph  which  he 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  341 

put  over  the  graves  of  his  parents  in  Hamilton  Cemetery, 
he  refused. 

"  To  show  the  resting-place  of 

Neil  Livingstone 

and  Agnes  Hunter,  his  wife, 

and  to  express  the  thankfulness  to  God 

of  their  children 

John,  David,  Janet,  Charles,  and  Agnes, 

for  poor  and  pious  parents." 

Some  time  during  these  toiling  years  the  son  of  Chris- 
tian parents  turned  towards  Christian  thought  and 
reading.  He  found  from  Dr.  Thomas  Dick's  works, 
"  The  Philosophy  of  Religion  "  and  "  The  Philosophy  of 
a  Future  State,"  "  that  religion  and  science  were  friendly 
to  one  another." 

He  became  so  interested  in  missions,  that  he  resolved 
to  give  all  he  could  earn  beyond  his  barest  needs  for 
the  spread  of  the  gospel.  Finally  a  book,  as  a  book  has 
done  before,  changed  the  course  of  a  life. 

Charles  Gutzlaff,  a  German  medical  missionary  to 
China,  wrote  an  appeal  to  the  churches  of  Great  Britain 
and  America  for  helpers.  David,  probably  in  his  twenty- 
first  year,  after  reading  this  booklet,  resolved  to  be- 
come a  medical  missionary. 

With  what  money  he  could  earn,  and  a  little  given  by 
his  parents  and  his  elder  brother,  he  went  to  Glasgow  in 
the  winter  of  1836-37,  when  he  was  twenty-three,  walking 
the  eight  miles  in  the  snow  from  Blantyre,  accompanied 
by  his  father. 

The  lodgings  were  all  too  expensive  for  the  slender 
purse  of  the  young  man.  Finally,  after  searching  all  day, 
they  found  a  room  in  Rotten  Eow  at  two  shillings  a 
week. 


342  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

He  engaged  it,  and  the  next  day,  after  a  tender  fare- 
well from  his  father,  paid  his  fees  of  twelve  pounds  to 
the  various  classes  in  Greek,  chemistry,  medicine,  and 
later  in  theology. 

He  soon  found  that  his  tea  and  sugar  disappeared,  so 
he  obtained  new  lodgings  in  High  Street,  at  half  a  crown 
a  week. 

Young  Livingstone  became  a  warm  friend  of  Mr.  James 
Young,  the  assistant  of  Dr.  Graham,  Professor  of  Chem- 
istry ;  and  in  Young's  room,  where  there  was  a  bench 
turning-lathe,  and  other  mechanical  implements,  learned 
the  use  of  tools.  This  proved  most  valuable  to  him  after- 
wards, when  he  built  houses  in  Africa,  and  was,  as  he 
said,  a  "  Jack-of-all-trades." 

Dr.  Young,  F.R.S.,  became  renowned  later  for  his 
purification  of  petroleum,  and  was  called  by  Livingstone, 
"  Sir  Paraffin." 

At  the  close  of  his  term  in  April,  Livingstone  returned 
to  the  mill  and  worked  as  hard  as  ever,  saving  money 
for  the  second  session.  In  1838,  having  offered  himself 
to  the  London  Missionary  Society,  he  and  a  friend,  Rev. 
Joseph  Moore,  afterwards  missionary  at  Tahiti,  were  sent 
to  spend  some  months  with  the  Rev.  Richard  Cecil,  who 
resided  at  Chipping  Ongar,  in  Essex.  They  studied  the 
classics  and  theology  under  him,  and  prepared  sermons, 
which  were  to  be  committed  to  memory,  and  then  deliv- 
ered to  the  village  congregations. 

Mr.  Moore  relates  the  following  incident :  "  Living- 
stone prepared  one ;  and  one  Sunday  the  minister  of 
Stanford  Rivers,  where  the  celebrated  Isaac  Taylor 
resided,  having  fallen  sick  after  the  morning  service, 
Livingstone  was  sent  for  to  preach  in  the  evening.  He 
took  his  text,  read  it  out  very  deliberately,  and  then  — 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE  343 

then  —  his  sermon  had  fled  !  Midnight  darkness  came 
upon  him,  and  he  abruptly  said :  '  Friends,  I  have  for- 
gotten all  I  had  to  say,'  and,  hurrying  out  of  the  pulpit, 
lie  left  the  chapel." 

One  morning  at  three  o'clock,  while  at  On  gar,  Living- 
stone started  to  walk  twenty-seven  miles  to  London,  — 
there  was  no  money  to  pay  for  rides,  —  to  do  some  busi- 
ness for  his  elder  brother.  After  some  hours  in  London, 
starting  homeward,  he  found  a  lady  by  the  roadside, 
stunned  by  falling  from  a  gig.  He  took  her  into  a  house 
near  by,  ascertained  that  no  bones  were  broken,  and 
recommended  that  a  doctor  should  be  called.  He  soon 
lost  his  way;  but,  after  regaining  it,  reached  Ongar  at 
midnight,  completely  exhausted,  and,  says  Moore,  "  white 
as  a  sheet,  and  so  tired  he  could  hardly  utter  a  word." 

The  Missionary  Society  hesitated  for  some  time  as  to 
accepting  Livingstone  for  their  work.  He  did  not  seem 
successful  as  a  preacher ;  he  was  not  fluent  in  extempo- 
raneous prayer ;  but  they  finally  decided  to  give  him 
another  trial,  and  later  accepted  him. 

He  hastened  to  London,  and  for  nearly  two  years 
worked  earnestly  and  with  enthusiasm  in  the  hospitals. 
Deeply  interested  in  natural  history,  he  gave  as  much 
time  as  he  could  spare  to  the  study  of  comparative  anat- 
omy in  the  Hunterian  Museum,  under  Professor  Owen. 

Everywhere  the  young  Scotchman  won  friends  by  rea- 
son of  his  gentleness  and  sympathy.  "  He  was  so  kind 
and  gentle  in  word  and  deed  to  all  about  him,  that  all 
loved  him,"  said  one  who  was  with  him  at  Ongar.  "  He 
had  always  words  of  sympathy  at  command,  and  was 
ready  to  perform  acts  of  sympathy  for  those  who  were 
suffering."  This  gentleness  he  seems  to  have  inherited 
from  his  mother,  to  whom  he  was  tenderly  devoted 
through  life. 


344  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

At  the  close  of  his  medical  studies  he  had  a  dangerous 
sickness  from  lung  trouble,  but  recovered.  He  returned 
to  Glasgow  to  take  his  medical  diploma,  and  spent  a 
night  with  his  family.  David  proposed  to  sit  up  all 
night  and  talk,  but  his  mother  wisely  objected.  "  I  re- 
member," says  Livingstone's  sister,  "  my  father  and 
him  talking  over  the  prospects  of  Christian  Missions. 
They  agreed  that  the  time  would  come  when  rich  men 
and  great  men  would  think  it  an  honor  to  support  whole 
stations  of  missionaries,  instead  of  spending  their  money 
on  hounds  and  horses.  On  the  morning  of  17  November 
we  got  ttp-at  five  o'clock.  My  mother  made  coffee. 
David  read  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-first  and  One 
Hundred  and  Thirty-fifth  Psalms,  and  prayed.  My 
father  and  he  walked  to  Glasgow  to  catch  the  Liver- 
pool steamer." 

They  never  met  again.  The  father  walked  slowly 
and  sadly  back  to  Blantyre.  His  son  went  out  to  win 
world-wide  renown. 

Sixteen  years  later  Neil  Livingstone,  the  father,  lay 
on  his  death-bed.  His  famous  son  was  on  his  way  back 
to  England.  "  You  wished  so  much  to  see  David,"  said 
his  daughter.  "  Ay,  very  much,  very  much  ;  but  the 
will  of  the  Lord  be  done."  Then  he  added,  "  But  I 
think  I'll  know  whatever  is  worth  knowing  about  him. 
When  you  see  him,  tell  him  I  think  so." 

When  David  was  told  these  words,  he  wept,  and  gave 
thanks  that  night  at  family  prayers  "  for  the  dead  who 
has  died  in  the  Lord." 

The  opium  war  having  closed  China  to  David  Living- 
stone, where  he  had  first  hoped  to  go,  his  mind  was 
turned  toward  Africa  by  Dr.  Robert  Moffat,  the  noted 
missionary,  then  in  London.     Livingstone  was  ordained 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  345 

Nov.  20,  1840,  in  Albion-street  Chapel,  London,  and 
sailed  December  8,  in  the  ship  George,  to  Cape  Town, 
reaching  it  after  three  months. 

During  the  journey  he  learned  to  take  astronomical 
observations  under  the  captain's  instructions.  He 
wrote  to  a  friend  :  "  The  captain  of  our  vessel  was  very 
obliging  to  me,  and  gave  me  all  the  information  respect- 
ing the  use  of  the  quadrant  in  his  power,  frequently  sit- 
ting up  till  twelve  at  night  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
lunar  observations  with  me." 

This  knowledge  proved  invaluable  in  after  years.  "I 
never  knew  a  man,"  said  Sir  Thomas  Maclear,  the  As- 
tronomer Royal,  "  who,  scarcely  knowing  anything  of  the 
method  of  making  geographical  observations,  or  laying 
down  positions,  become  so  soon  an  adept,  that  he  could 
take  the  complete  lunar  observation,  and  altitudes  for 
time,  within  fifteen  minutes.  ...  To  give  an  idea  of 
the  laboriousness  of  this  branch  of  his  work,  on  an  aver- 
age each  lunar  distance  consists  of  five  partial  observa- 
tions, and  there  are  148  sets  of  distances,  being  740 
contacts;  and  there  are  two  altitudes  of  each  object  be- 
fore, and  two  after,  which,  together  with  altitudes  for 
time,  amount  to  21,812  partial  observations.  .  .  .  What 
that  man  has  done  is  unprecedented.  .  .  .  You  could  go 
to  any  point  across  the  entire  continent,  along  Living- 
stone's track,  and  feel  certain  of  your  position."  Maclear 
said  Livingstone's  observations  of  the  course  of  the 
Zambezi  River  were  "  the  finest  specimens  of  sound 
geographical  observations  he  ever  met  with." 

From  Algoa  Ray,  Livingstone  started  for  Kuruman, 
Dr.  Moffat's  usual  residence,  seven  hundred  miles  by 
ox-wagon,  arriving  there  July  31,  1841.  Around  the 
place  it  was  desert  for  the  most  part,  bul  at   the  station 


346  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

the  missionaries  by  irrigation  and  tree-planting  had 
made  it  very  attractive. 

Livingstone  and  one  of  their  own  missionaries  who  had 
come  up  from  the  Cape  were  warmly  welcomed  by  the 
firing  of  guns  and  the  rush  of  men,  women,  and  children 
to  clasp  them  by  the  hand. 

After  a  short  stay  at  Kuruman  he  started  north  to 
find  a  suitable  place  for  a  new  station,  as  Dr.  Moffat  had 
suggested.  From  the  first  the  natives  were  Avon  by  the 
kind  manner  and  voice  of  Livingstone.  He  writes  to 
his  sister  Janet :  "  When  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  from  home  we  came  to  a  large  village.  The  chief 
had  sore  eyes  :  I  doctored  them,  and  he  fed  us  pretty 
well,  and  sent  a  fine  buck  after  me  as  a  present.  When 
we  got  ten  or  twelve  miles  on  the  way,  a  little  girl 
eleven  or  twelve  years  old  came  up,  and  sat  down  under 
my  wagon,  having  run  away  with  the  purpose  of  coming 
with  us  to  Kuruman,  where  she  had  friends.  She  had 
lived  with  a  sister,  lately  dead.  Another  family  took 
possession  of  her,  for  the  purpose  of  selling  her  as  soon 
as  she  was  old  enough  for  a  wife ;  but  not  liking  this, 
she  determined  to  run  away.  With  this  intention  she 
came,  and  thought  of  walking  all  the  way  behind  my 
wagon.  I  was  pleased  with  the  determination  of  the 
little  creature,  and  gave  her  food ;  but  before  long  heard 
her  sobbing  violently,  as  if  her  heart  would  break. 

"  On  looking  round  I  observed  the  cause.  A  man  with 
a  gun  had  been  sent  after  her,  and  had  just  arrived.  I 
did  not  know  well  what  to  do,  but  was  not  in  perplexity 
long;  for  Pomare,  a  native  convert  who  accompanied  us, 
started  up  and  defended  her.  He,  being  the  son  of  a 
chief,  and  possessed  of  some  little  authority,  managed 
the  matter  nicely.     She  had  been  loaded  with  beads,  to 


DAVID   LIVINGSTONE  347 

render  her  more  attractive,  and  fetch  a  higher  price. 
These  she  stripped  off  and  gave  to  the  man.  I  after- 
wards took  measures  for  hiding  her,  and  if  fifty  men 
had  come  they  would  not  have  got  her." 

For  six  months  Livingstone  remained  at  a  place  called 
Koloben,  where,  away  from  all  Europeans,  he  studied 
the  habits  and  language  of  the  Bakwains  (Crocodile 
People). 

One  of  the  neighboring  chiefs,  Sekomi,  came  and  sat 
with  Livingstone  in  his  hut,  and,  after  being  apparently 
in  deep  thought,  said,  "  I  wish  you  would  change  my 
heart.  Give  me  medicine  to  change  it,  for  it  is  proud, 
proud  and  angry,  angry  always." 

Livingstone  lifted  up  the  New  Testament,  and  was 
about  to  tell  him  how  his  heart  might  be  changed  through 
that  book,  when  Sekomi  interrupted  him  by  saying, 
"Nay,  I  wish  to  have  it  changed  by  medicine,  to  drink 
and  have  it  changed  at  once,  for  it  is  always  very  proud 
and  very  uneasy,  and  continually  angry  with  some  one." 
He  then  rose  and  went  away. 

On  Livingstone's  return  to  Kuruman  he  had  an  im- 
mense medical  practice.  In  a  letter  to  his  old  tutor, 
Dr.  Risdon  Bennett,  he  says,  "I  have  patients  now  under 
treatment  who  have  walked  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles 
for  my  advice;  and  when  these  go  home,  others  will 
come  for  the  same  purpose.  This  is  the  country  for  a 
medical  man  if  he  wants  a  large  practice;  but  he  must 
leave  fees  out  of  the  question  !  The  Bechuanas  have  a 
great  deal  more  disease  than  I  expected  to  find  amongst 
a  savage  nation ;  but  little  else  can  be  expected,  for  they 
are  nearly  naked,  and  endure  the  scorching  heat  of  the 
day  and  the  chills  of  the  night  in  that  condition.  Indi- 
gestion, rheumatism,  and  ophthalmia  are  the  prevailing 


348  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

diseases.  Sometimes,  when  travelling,  my  wagon  was 
qnite  besieged  by  their  blind,  halt,  and  lame.  .  .  .  They 
are  excellent  patients,  too,  besides.  There  is  no  wincing. 
In  any  operation,  even  the  women  sit  unmoved." 

The  only  child  of  Sechele,  chief  of  the  Bakwains, 
having  been  cured  of  an  illness  by  Livingstone,  he 
became  thereafter  one  of  the  missionary's  greatest 
friends. 

When  talked  with  about  Christianity,  Sechele  said, 
"  Since  it  is  true  that  all  who  die  unforgiven  are  lost  for- 
ever, why  did  your  nation  not  come  to  tell  us  of  it  before 
now  ?  My  ancestors  are  all  gone,  and  none  of  them 
heard  anything  of  what  you  tell  me.     How  is  this  ?  " 

"I  thought  immediately  of  the  guilt  of  the  church," 
says  Livingstone,  "but  did  not  confess." 

Some  time  later  Sechele  was  converted,  read  his  Bible, 
and  sent  home  to  their  parents  all  his  wives  save  one, 
giving  each  her  clothes  and  all  the  goods  which  she 
had  in  her  hut  belonging  either  to  herself  or  her  hus- 
band. This  alienated  all  their  relatives,  and  made  many 
bitter  enemies  for  Sechele.  The  putting  away  of  his 
wives  cost  Sechele  a  severe  struggle.  He  often  said  to 
Livingstone,  "  Oh,  I  wish  you  had  come  to  this  country 
before  I  became  entangled  in  the  meshes  of  our  cus- 
toms !  " 

At  first  he  proposed  to  increase  converts  in  a  peculiar 
manner.  He  said  to  Livingstone,  "  Do  you  think  you 
can  make  my  people  believe  by  talking  to  them  ?  I  can 
make  them  do  nothing  except  by  thrashing  them  ;  and  if 
you  like  I  shall  call  my  head-man,  and  with  our  whips 
of  rhinoceros  hide  we  will  soon  make  them  all  believe 
together." 

He  soon  bocame  more  gentle,  and  began  family  wor- 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  849 

ship  ;  but  to  his  great  regret  no  one  attended  save  his 
own  family.  "  In  former  times,"  he  said,  "  if  a  chief 
was  fond  of  hunting,  all  his  people  got  dogs  and  became 
fond  of  hunting  too.  If  he  loved  beer,  they  all  rejoiced 
in  strong  drink.  But  now  it  is  different.  I  love  the 
word  of  God,  but  not  one  of  my  brethren  will  join  me." 

In  one  of  these  journeys,  when  the  oxen  became  ill, 
and  Livingstone  was  obliged  to  walk,  he  overheard  some 
of  his  men  saying,  "  He  is  not  strong ;  he  is  quite  slim, 
and  only  seems  stout  because  he  puts  himself  into  those 
bags  (trousers) ;  he  will  soon  knock  up." 

"  This  made  my  Highland  blood  rise,"  he  says,  "  and  I 
kept  them  all  at  the  top  of  their  speed  for  days  to- 
gether, until  I  heard  them  express  a  favorable  opinion  of 
my  pedestrian  powers." 

The  journeys  on  the  back  of  an  ox  were  anything  but 
easy.  He  wrote  Dr.  Bennett :  "  It  is  rough  travelling,  as 
you  can  conceive.  The  skin  is  so  loose  there  is  no  get- 
ting one's  great-coat,  which  has  to  serve  both  as  saddle 
and  blanket,  to  stick  on  ;  and  then  the  long  horns  in 
front,  with  which  he  can  give  one  a  punch  in  the  abdo- 
men if  he  likes,  makes  us  sit  as  bolt  upright  as  dra- 
goons. In  this  manner  I  travelled  more  than  four 
hundred  miles." 

It  having  been  decided  to  form  a  mission  station  at 
Mabotsa,  about  two  hundred  miles  north-east  of  Kuru- 
man,  Livingstone  went  thither  in  1843.  Here  he  came 
near  being  killed  by  a  lion.  These  animals  abounded  in 
the  neighborhood,  and  ate  the  cows  and  sometimes  the 
people.  If  one  of  a  troop  of  lions  is  shot,  the  others 
will  usually  leave  the  country. 

When  a  herd  of  cows  was  attacked,  Livingstone 
went  out  with  the  men  to  try  to  kill  the  intruder.     He 


350  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

shot  at  one  lion  about  thirty  yards  off,  and  wounded 
him.  Loading  his  gun  again,  he  heard  a  shout  from  the 
other  men.  "Starting,"  he  says,  "and  looking  half 
round,  I  saw  the  lion  just  in  the  act  of  springing  upon 
me.  I  was  upon  a  little  height ;  he  caught  my  shoulder 
as  he  sprang,  and  we  both  came  to  the  ground  below  to- 
gether. Growling  horribly  close  to  my  ear,  he  shook  me 
as  a  terrier  dog  does  a  rat.  The  shock  produced  a 
stupor  similar  to  that  which  seems  to  be  felt  by  a  mouse 
after  the  first  shake  of  a  cat.  It  caused  a  sort  of  dream- 
iness in  which  there  was  no  sense  of  pain  nor  feeling  of 
terror,  though  quite  conscious  of  all  that  was  happen- 
ing. .  .  . 

"  Turning  round  to  relieve  myself  of  the  weight,  as 
he  had  one  paw  on  the  back  of  my  head,  I  saw  his 
eyes  directed  to  Mebalwe,  who  was  trying  to  shoot 
him  at  a  distance  of  ten  or  fifteen  yards.  His  gun, 
a  flint  one,  missed  fire  in  both  barrels ;  the  lion  im- 
mediately left  me,  and,  attacking  Mebalwe,  bit  his 
thigh.  Another  man,  whose  life  I  had  saved  before, 
after  he  had  been  tossed  by  a  buffalo,  attempted  to  spear 
the  lion  while  he  was  biting  Mebalwe.  He  left  Mebalwe 
and  caught  this  man  by  the  shoulder ;  but  at  that  mo- 
ment the  bullets  he  had  received  took  effect,  and  he  fell 
down  dead.  The  whole  was  the  work  of  a  few  moments, 
and  must  have  been  his  paroxysms  of  dying  rage.  .  .  . 
Besides  crunching  the  bone  into  splinters,  he  left  eleven 
teeth  wounds  on  the  upper  part  of  my  arm." 

This  encounter  left  Livingstone  lame  for  life  in  that 
arm.  A  false  joint  formed  in  the  arm,  and  by  this  mark 
his  body  was  identified  years  after,  when  it  was  brought 
back  to  England. 

During  the  year  1844  Dr.  Moffat  returned  to  Kuruman 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  351 

from  England  with  his  family.  The  eldest  daughter 
Mary  seems  to  have  changed  Livingstone's  mind  on  the 
subject  of  marriage.  He  had  told  the  London  Mission- 
ary Society  when  he  came  to  Africa  that  he  had  never 
made  proposal  of  marriage,  nor  indeed  been  in  love. 
He  would  prefer  to  go  out  unmarried,  that  he  might, 
like  the  great  apostle,  be  without  family  cares,  and 
give  himself  entirely  to  the  work. 

In  1844  he  writes :  "  After  nearly  four  years  of  African 
life  as  a  bachelor,  I  screwed  up  courage  to  put  a  ques- 
tion beneath  one  of  the  fruit-trees,  the  result  of  which 
was  that  I  became  united  in  marriage  to  Mr.  Moffat's 
eldest  daughter,  Mary.  Having  been  born  in  the  coun- 
try, and  being  expert  in  household  matters,  she  was  always 
the  best  spoke  in  the  wheel  at  home  ;  and,  when  I  took 
her  on  two  occasions  to  Lake  Ngami,  and  far  beyond,  she 
endured  more  than  some  who  have  written  large  books 
of  travel." 

While  engaged  to  her  in  the  early  part  of  1844,  ho 
writes  to  her  about  the  house  he  is  building  for  their 
future  home  at  Mabotsa :  "  The  walls  are  nearly  finished, 
although  the  dimensions  are  fifty-two  feet  by  twenty 
outside,  or  almost  the  same  size  as  the  house  in  which 
you  now  reside.  I  began  with  stone ;  but  when  it  was 
breast-high  I  was  obliged  to  desist  from  my  purpose  to 
build  it  entirely  of  that  material  by  an  accident  which, 
slight  as  it  was,  put  a  stop  to  my  operations  in  that  line. 
A  stone,  falling,  was  stupidly,  or  rather  instinctively, 
caught  by  me  in  its  fall  by  the  left  hand,  and  it  nearly 
broke  my  arm  over  again.    .    .    . 

"  The  walls  will  be  finished  long  before  you  receive 
this,  and  I  suppose  the  roof  too,  but  I  have  still  the 
wood  of  the  roof  to  seek.    ...     It  is  pretty  hard  work, 


352  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

and  almost  enough  to  drive  love  out  of  my  head,  but  it 
is  not  situated  there  ;  it  is  in  my  heart,  and  won't  come 
out  unless  you  behave  so  as  to  quench  it.    .    .    . 

"  You  must  excuse  soiled  paper ;  my  hands  won't  wash 
clean  after  dabbling  mud  all  day.  And  although  the 
above  does  not  contain  evidence  of  it,  you  are  as  dear  to 
me  as  ever,  and  will  be  as  long  as  our  lives  are  spared." 

A  few  weeks  later  he  writes :  "  While  I  give  you  the 
good  news  that  our  work  is  making  progress,  and  the 
time  of  our  separation  becoming  beautifully  less,  I  am 
happy  in  the  hope  that,  by  the  messenger  who  now  goes, 
I  shall  receive  the  good  news  that  you  are  well  and 
happy,  and  remembering  me  with  some  of  that  affection 
which  we  bear  to  each  other." 

He  writes  her  that  he  has  opened  a  school,  and  that 
though  he  had  previously  had  a  "  great  objection  to 
Bchool-keeping,"  and  once  believed  he  could  never  have 
any  pleasure  in  it,  "  I  find  in  that,  as  in  almost  every- 
thing else  I  set  myself  to  as  a  matter  of  duty,  I  soon  be- 
come enamoured  of  it." 

After  their  marriage  they  resided  for  a  year  at  Ma- 
botsa.  The  other  missionary  at  that  place  becoming 
disaffected,  rather  than  to  live  in  any  unpleasant  feel- 
ing, Mr.  and  Mrs.  Livingstone  left  the  home  which 
they  had  built,  their  school  and  garden,  and  moved 
forty  miles  north  to  Chonuane.  His  colleague  regretted 
the  outcome  of  the  matter,  and  said  that  had  he  supposed 
Livingstone  would  go  away  he  would  never  have  spoken 
a  word  against  him. 

At  Chonuane  there  was  plenty  of  hard  work.  He 
wrote :  "  Building,  gardening,  cobbling,  doctoring,  tinker- 
ing, carpentering,  gun-mending,  farriering,  wagon-mend- 
ing, preaching,  schooling,  lecturing  on  physics,  according 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  353 

to  my  means,  besides  a  chair  in  divinity  to  a  class  of 
three,  fill  up  my  time." 

"  We  made  our  own  butter,"  he  says  in  his  first  book, 
"a  jar  serving  as  a  churn;  and  our  candles  by  means  of 
moulds ;  and  soap  was  procured  from  the  ashes  of  the 
plant  Iolsola,  or  wood-ashes,  which  in  Africa  contain  so 
little  alkaline  matter,  that  the  boiling  of  successive  leys 
has  to  be  continued  for  a  month  or  six  weeks  before  the 
fat  is  saponified.  .  .  .  Married  life  is  all  the  sweeter 
when  so  many  comforts  emanate  directly  from  the  thrifty, 
striving  housewife's  hands." 

At  Chonuane  their  first  child,  Robert,  was  born, 
named  after  Mrs.  Livingstone's  father,  Robert  Moffat. 
After  being  brought  up  in  England,  having  the  restless 
nature  of  his  father,  he  was  sent  to  Natal,  Africa ;  but 
unable  to  reach  Livingstone  on  the  Zambesi,  he  found 
his  way  to  America,  where  he  enlisted  at  Boston  in  a 
New  Hampshire  regiment,  in  the  Northern  army,  under 
the  assumed  name  of  Rupert  Vincent,  to  avoid  being 
found  by  his  tutor.  He  was  wounded  in  battle,  having 
shown  great  courage,  and  taken  as  a  prisoner  to  a  hos- 
pital in  Salisbury,  North  Carolina.  Dr.  Livingstone 
learned  of  this  through  a  letter  in  which  the  youth  ex- 
pressed an  intense  desire  to  travel.  The  father,  at  this 
time  in  England,  begged  the  intercession  of  the  American 
Minister  for  his  boy,  but  immediately  after  it  was  learned 
that  he  had  died  in  the  hospital  at  the  age  of  nineteen. 
He  was  buried  in  the  National  Cemetery  at  Gettysburg, 
Pennsylvania.  President  Lincoln  opened  this  cemetery 
with  a  speech  that  made  his  name  forever  dear  to  Living- 
stone. 

Life  was  no  holiday  to  either  David  or  Mary  Living- 
stone.    The  continued  drought  necessitated  their  moY- 


354  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

ing  farther  north  to  Kolobeng,  —  Sechele  and  his  tribe 
moved  with  them,  —  where  he  describes  their  daily  life  : 
"  After  family  worship  and  breakfast  between,  six  ami 
seven,  we  went  to  keep  school  for  all  who  would  attend, 
—  men,  women,  and  children  being  all  invited.  School 
over  at  eleven  o'clock,  while  the  missionary's  wife  was 
occupied  in  domestic  matters,  the  missionary  himself 
had  some  manual  labor  as  a  smith,  carpenter,  or  gar- 
dener, according  to  whatever  was  needed  for  ourselves 
or  for  the  people.  .  .  .  After  dinner  and  an  hour's  rest 
the  wife  attended  her  infant  school,  which  the  young, 
who  were  left  by  their  parents  to  their  own  caprice, 
liked  amazingly,  and  generally  mustered  a  hundred 
strong;  or  she  varied  with  a  sewing-school,  having 
classes  of  girls  to  learn  the  art :  this,  too,  was  equally 
well  relished." 

After  working  till  sunset,  on  three  nights  of  the  week 
religious  services  were  held,  varied  by  classes  in  secular 
instruction,  by  pictures,  specimens,  etc.  The  rest  of  the 
time  was  spent  in  caring  for  the  wants  of  the  poor  and 
the  sick. 

Though  busy  years,  these  spent  at  Kolobeng  were  happy 
ones.  More  than  twenty  years  later  Livingstone  wrote  : 
"  Not  a  single  pang  of  regret  arises  in  the  view  of  my 
conduct,  except  that  I  did  not  feel  it  to  be  my  duty, 
while  spending  all  my  energy  in  teaching  the  heathen, 
to  devote  a  special  portion  of  my  time  to  play  with  my 
children.  But  generally  I  was  so  much  exhausted  with 
the  mental  and  manual  labor  of  the  day,  that  in  the 
evening  there  was  no  fun  left  in  me.  I  did  not  play 
with  my  little  ones  while  I  had  them  ;  and  they  soon 
sprung  up  in  my  absences,  and  left  me  conscious  that  I 
had  none  to  play  with." 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  355 

Having  had  much  annoyance  from  the  Boers,  descend- 
ants of  the  Dutch,  who  lived  to  the  east  of  Kolobeng, 
and  who  constantly  threatened  to  enslave  Sechele  and 
his  people,  and  having  heard  of  a  lake  to  the  northward, 
where  a  country  better  watered  might  be  found,  Living- 
stone started  June  1,  1849,  to  cross  the  Kalahari  Desert 
to  the  north,  taking  with  him  twenty  men,  twenty 
horses,  and  eighty  oxen.  They  suffered  greatly  for  lack 
of  water  during  the  journey,  the  oxen  sometimes  going 
four  full  days,  ninety-six  hours,  without  drinking. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  desert  were  Bushmen  and 
Bakalahari.  The  latter  were  a  timid  people,  living  far 
from  water,  with  the  hope  that  they  would  not  be  mo- 
lested or  enslaved.  "  When  they  wish  to  draw  water  for 
use,"  says  Livingstone,  "  the  women  come  with  twenty 
or  thirty  of  their  water-vessels  in  a  bag  or  net  on  their 
backs.  These  water-vessels  consist  of  ostrich  egg-shells, 
with  a  hole  in  the  end  of  each,  such  as  would  admit 
one's  finger.  The  women  tie  a  bunch  of  grass  to  one 
end  of  a  reed  about  two  feet  long,  and  insert  it  in  a 
hole  dug  as  deep  as  the  arm  will  reach;  then  ram  down 
the  wet  sand  firmly  round  it. 

"  Applying  the  mouth  to  the  free  end  of  the  reed,  they 
form  a  vacuum  in  the  grass  beneath,  in  which  the  water 
collects,  and  in  a  short  time  rises  into  the  mouth.  An 
egg-shell  is  placed  on  the  ground  alongside  the  reed, 
some  inches  below  the  mouth  of  the  sucker.  A  straw 
guides  the  water  into  the  hole  of  the  vessel,  as  she 
draws  mouthful  after  mouthful  from  below.  The  water 
is  made  to  pass  along  the  outside,  not  through  the 
straw.  .  .  .  The  whole  stock  of  water  is  thus  passed 
through  the  woman's  mouth  as  a  pump,  and,  when  taken 
home,  is  carefully  buried." 


350  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE 

On  Aug.  1,  1849,  Livingstone  and  his  two  English 
friends,  Oswell  and  Murray,  looked  upon  Lake  Ngami. 
They  were  doubtless  the  first  Europeans  who  had  ever 
beheld  it.  Livingstone  guessed  it  to  be  about  seventy 
miles  in  circumference.  The  word  means  "giraffe,"  per- 
haps from  the  shape  of  the  lake.  Many  travellers  had 
tried  to  reach  it,  and  had  been  unable  to  cross  the  desert. 

Livingstone  also  discovered  the  Zouga  River,  concern- 
ing which  he  wrote  to  his  friend  Watt :  "  It  is  a  glorious 
river ;  you  never  saw  anything  so  grand.  The  banks 
are  extremely  beautiful,  lined  with  gigantic  trees,  many 
quite  new."  There  were  two  baobab-trees,  one  seventy- 
six  feet  in  girth.  These  trees  are  sometimes  one  hun- 
dred feet  in  circumference.  One  tree  bore  "a  fruit  a 
foot  in  length  and  three  inches  in  diameter." 

The  Royal  Geographical  Society  voted  Livingstone 
twenty-five  guineas  for  the  discovery  of  a  "  large  inland 
lake  and  a  fine  river."  No  doubt  the  money  was  very 
acceptable  to  a  man  who  was  supporting  a  wife  and  three 
children  on  one  hundred  pounds  a  year  (five  hundred 
dollars),  and  helping  now  and  then,  in  a  very  limited 
way,  his  relatives  at  home. 

His  heart  and  hands  were  ever  open.  Some  years 
before  he  had  given  his  brother  Charles  five  pounds  to 
help  him  to  go  to  America,  where  he  might,  perhaps, 
obtain  admission  to  a  college  where  he  could  support 
himself  by  manual  labor  and  prepare  for  the  ministry. 
On  landing  at  New  York,  after  selling  his  box  and  bed, 
Charles  found  himself  possessed  of  two  pounds,  thirteen 
shillings,  sixpence. 

Purchasing  some  bread  and  cheese,  he  started  for 
Oberlin  College,  Ohio,  over  five  hundred  miles  away ; 
Dr.  Charles  Finney  was  at  that  time  the  president.     He 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  357 

obtained  his  education,  and  was  settled  over  a  New 
England  Church  till  he  joined  his  brother  in  Africa  in 
1857.  This  is  not  the  first  nor  the  last  time  that  Ober- 
lin  College  has  proved  a  blessing. 

Livingstone  hoped  to  push  on  beyond  Lake  Ngami  to 
the  Chief  Sebituane,  but  was  prevented  by  another  chief, 
through  jealousy.  He  therefore  returned ;  and  the  fol- 
lowing year,  in  April,  1850,  he  left  Kolobeng  a  second 
time  for  Ngami,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  children, 
When  near  the  lake,  they  found  a  party  of  Englishmen, 
one  of  whom,  an  artist,  had  died,  and  the  others  were 
nursed  to  health  by  Mrs.  Livingstone. 

Fever  attacked  two  of  the  children,  and  others  of 
the  party,  and  they  were  obliged  to  return  to  Kolobeng. 
Here  a  little  daughter,  Elizabeth,  was  born,  who  died  in 
six  weeks.  It  was  a  great  blow  to  the  parents,  the  first 
death  in  their  family. 

Livingstone  wrote  home  to  his  father  and  mother:  — 
"  Our  last  child,  a  sweet  little  girl  with  blue  eyes,  was 
taken  from  us  to  join  the  company  of  the  redeemed, 
through  the  merits  of  Him  of  whom  she  never  heard.  It 
is  wonderful  how  soon  the  affections  twine  round  a  little 
stranger.  We  felt  her  loss  keenly.  .  .  .  She  uttered 
a  piercing  shriek  previous  to  expiring,  and  then  went 
away  to  see  the  King  in  his  beauty,  and  the  land  —  the 
glorious  land,  and  its  inhabitants." 

Years  afterward  the  father  longed  to  visit  the  grave  of 
his  child,  but  did  not  deem  it  wise  to  enter  the  country, 
as  the  Boers  then  governed  it. 

A  third  and  at  last  successful  attempt  was  made  to 
reach  Sebituane  in  April,  1851.  The  guide  lost  his  way 
in  the  desert,  and  for  four  days  they  were  without  water. 
Livingstone  says  in  his  "Missionary  Travels:"    "The 


358  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

supply  of  water  in  the  wagons  had  been  wasted  by  one  of 
our  servants,  and  by  the  afternoon  only  a  small  portion 
remained  for  the  children.  This  was  a  bitterly  anxious 
night;  and  next  morning  the  less  there  was  of  water, 
the  more  thirsty  the  little  rogues  became.  The  idea  of 
their  perishing  before  our  eyes  was  terrible :  it  would 
almost  have  been  a  relief  to  me  to  have  been  reproached 
with  being  the  entire  cause  of  the  catastrophe ;  but  not 
one  syllable  of  upbraiding  was  uttered  by  their  mother, 
though  the  tearful  eye  told  the  agony  within.  In  the 
afternoon  of  the  fifth  day,  to  our  inexpressible  relief, 
some  of  the  men  returned  with  a  supply  of  that  fluid  of 
which  we  had  never  before  felt  the  true  value." 

Livingstone  said  later :  "  My  opinion  is  that  the 
most  severe  labors  and  privations  may  be  undergone 
without  alcoholic  stimulus,  because  those  who  have  en- 
dured the  most  had  nothing  else  but  water,  and  not 
always  enough  of  that." 

Sebituane  received  Livingstone  most  cordially ;  for  it 
had  been  the  dream  of  his  life  to  know  white  men,  as  he 
was  the  "  greatest  man  in  all  that  country,"  the  chief  of 
the  Makololo.  He  died  two  weeks  later  from  inflamma- 
tion of  the  lungs.  "  After  sitting  with  him  some  time," 
says  Livingstone,  "  and  commending  him  to  the  mercy  of 
God,  I  rose  to  depart,  when  the  dying  chieftain,  raising 
himself  up  a  little  from  his  prone  position,  called  a  ser- 
vant and  said,  '  Take  Robert  to  Maunko  (one  of  his 
wives),  and  tell  her  to  give  him  some  milk.'  These 
were  the  last  words  of  Sebituane." 

The  next  day  he  was  buried  in  his  cattle-pen,  and  all 
the  cattle  driven  for  an  hour  or  two  around  and  over  the 
grave,  so  that  it  should  be  quite  obliterated.  His  daugh- 
ter, Ma-mochisane,  reigned  after  him.    When  her  brother 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  359 

Sekeletu  was  eighteen  years  of  age,  she  resigned  in  his 
favor.  Three  days  were  spent  in  public  discussion  over 
the  subject,  when  Ma-mochisane  burst  into  tears,  exclaim- 
ing, "  I  have  been  a  chief  only  because  my  father  wished 
it !  I  always  would  have  preferred  to  be  married  and 
have  a  family  like  other  women.  You,  Sekeletu,  must 
be  chief,  and  build  up  your  father's  house." 

Another  member  of  the  family,  Mpepe,  tried  to  assas- 
sinate Sekeletu,  who  was  saved  by  Livingstone.  Mpepe 
was  afterwards  speared  by  order  of  the  chief,  Sekeletu. 

The  latter,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  Bechuanas, 
became  the  possessor  of  his  father's  wives,  and  adopted 
two  of  them.  The  children  by  these  wives  are  termed 
brothers  and  sisters.  There  is  always  a  head  wife,  or 
queen.  If  she  dies,  a  new  wife  is  selected  for  the  same 
position. 

Livingstone  and  Oswell,  who  was  a  sportsman  and 
traveller,  continued  in  their  explorations  to  the  north,  to 
find  a  suitable  and  healthful  place  for  the  mission. 
Toward  the  end  of  June,  1851,  they  discovered  the 
Zambesi  River,  in  the  centre  of  the  continent.  The 
Portuguese  had  always  represented  the  river  on  their 
maps  as  rising  far  to  the  eastward.  There  was  at  this 
point  a  breadth  of  from  three  hundred  to  six  hundred 
yards.  The  tribes  were  living  among  the  swamps  for 
the  protection  afforded  them  by  the  deep,  reedy  rivers, 
and  Livingstone  felt  that  he  could  not  settle  his  family 
there.  He  decided,  therefore,  to  send  them  to  England 
until  he  should  have  explored  the  country  farther,  as 
they  could  not  be  left  at  Kolobeng,  at  the  mercy  of  the 
Boers. 

Livingstone  took  his  family  to  the  Cape;  and  Mrs. 
Livingstone,  with    her    four  children,  Robert,  Thomas, 


360  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

Agnes,  and  Oswell,  an  infant  six  months  old,  sailed  for 
England,  April  23,  1852.  Mr.  Oswell,  who  was  a  friend 
indeed,  provided  two  hundred  pounds  for  their  outfit. 

It  was  a  sad  parting  for  all.  It  seemed  best  for  the 
children  to  be  reared  in  England,  and  for  their  mother 
to  be  with  them.  Livingstone  felt  that  he  was  called  to 
open  up  the  vast  country  about  him.  The  chiefs  were 
friendly  to  him.  He  could  help  to  arrest  the  terrible 
slave-trade  going  on  before  him.  "Nothing,"  he  wrote 
to  the  London  Missionary  Society,  "  but  a  strong  con- 
viction that  the  step  will  lead  to  the  glory  of  Christ 
would  make  me  orphanize  my  children.  Even  now  my 
bowels  yearn  over  them.  They  will  forget  me ;  but  I 
hope  when  the  day  of  trial  comes  I  shall  not  be  found 
a  more  sorry  soldier  than  those  who  serve  an  earthly 
sovereign." 

After  his  family  had  gone,  he  wrote  by  every  mail.  Two 
weeks  after  their  departure  he  writes:  "My  dearest 
Mary,  —  How  I  miss  you  now  and  the  dear  children! 
My  heart  yearns  incessantly  over  you.  How  many 
thoughts  of  the  past  crowd  into  my  mind !  I  feel  as  if 
I  would  treat  you  all  more  tenderly  and  lovingly  than 
ever.  You  have  been  a  great  blessing  to  me.  You 
attended  to  my  comfort  in  many,  many  ways.  May  God 
bless  you  for  all  your  kindnesses  !  I  see  no  face  now  to 
be  compared  with  that  sunburnt  one  which  has  so  often 
greeted  me  with  its  kind  looks.  ...  I  never  show  all 
my  feelings ;  but  I  can  say  truly,  my  dearest,  that  I 
loved  you  when  I  married  you,  and  the  longer  I  lived 
with  you,  I  loved  you  the  better.  .  .  .  Take  them  all 
(the  children)  round  you,  and  kiss  them  for  me.  Tell 
them  I  have  left  them  for  the  love  of  Jesus,  and  they 
must  love  Him,  too." 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  861 

Two  weeks  later  lie  writes  to  Agnes,  his  eldest  daughter, 
then  in  her  fifth  year :  "  This  is  your  own  little  letter. 
...  I  shall  not  see  you  again  for  a  long  time,  and  I 
am  very  sorry.  I  have  no  Nannie  now.  I  have  given 
you  back  to  Jesus,  your  Friend — your  Papa  who  is  in 
heaven.     He  is  above  you,  but  He  is  always  near  you." 

While  at  Cape  Town,  Livingstone  put  himself  under 
the  instructions  of  the  astronomer-Royal,  Sir  Thomas 
Maclear.  They  became  firm  friends.  The  most  striking 
promontory  on  Lake  Nyassa,  Dr.  Livingstone  named 
Cape  Maclear,  in  honor  of  his  distinguished  friend. 
"Livingstone  acquired  in  astronomical  observations," 
says  H.  H.  Johnston,  F.R.G.S.,  in  his  valuable  life  of 
the  explorer,  "  a  skill  and  accuracy  which  few  subsequent 
travellers  have  possessed  to  a  like  degree." 

Two  months  after  his  wife's  departure  for  England, 
he  left  the  Cape  with  ten  poor  oxen  dragging  his  heavy 
wagon.  He  was  so  delayed  that  he  did  not  reach  Kuru- 
man  till  September.  Here  a  wheel  broke,  and  he 
stopped  to  repair  it.     This  accident  saved  his  life. 

While  mending  it  a  letter  was  brought  to  him  by 
Masabele  from  her  husband.  It  read  as  follows : 
"  Friend  of  my  heart's  love,  and  all  of  the  confidence 
of  my  heart,  I  am  Sechele.  I  am  undone  by  the  Boers, 
who  attacked  me,  though  I  have  no  guilt  with  them. 
They  demanded  that  T  should  be  in  their  kingdom,  and  I 
refused.  They  demanded  that  I  should  prevent  the 
English  and  Griquas  from  passing.  I  replied,  'These 
are  my  friends,  and  I  can  prevent  no  one!'  They  came 
on  Saturday,  and  I  besought  them  not  to  fight-  on  Sun- 
day and  they  assented. 

"They  began  on  Monday  morning  at  twilight,  and 
fired  with  all  their  might,  and  burned  the  town  with  fire, 


362  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

and  scattered  us.  They  killed  sixty  of  my  people,  and 
captured  women  and  children  and  men.  They  took  all 
the  cattle  and  all  the  goods  of  the  Bakwains ;  and  the 
house  of  Livingstone  they  plundered,  taking  away  all 
his  goods." 

Sechele's  wife  had  been  saved  by  hiding  herself  in  the 
cleft  of  a  rock,  over  which  the  Boers  were  firing.  When 
her  infant  cried,  terrified  lest  the  noise  betray  them,  she 
took  off  her  armlets  and  gave  to  it  for  playthings. 

Livingstone  writes  to  his  wife  of  the  dreadful  outrage 
committed  by  the  Boers:  "They  gutted  our  house  at 
Kolobeng;  they  brought  four  wagons  down  and  took 
away  sofa,  table,  bed,  all  the  crockery,  your  desk  (I  hope 
it  had  nothing  in  it.  Have  you  the  letters  ?),  smashed 
the  wooden  chairs,  took  away  the  iron  ones,  tore  out  the 
leaves  of  all  the  books,  and  scattered  them  in  front  of 
the  house,  smashed  the  bottles  containing  medicines, 
windows,  oven-door,  took  away  the  smith-bellows,  anvil, 
all  the  tools,  —  in  fact,  everything  worth  taking:  three 
corn-mills,  a  bag  of  coffee  for  which  I  paid  six  pounds, 
and  lots  of  coffee,  tea,  and  sugar,  which  the  gentlemen 
who  went  to  the  North  left." 

All  the  corn  belonging  to  three  tribes  was  burned,  and 
all  the  cattle  taken.  The  Boers  expressed  regret  that 
they  could  not  get  hold  of  Livingstone  himself.  What  a 
mercy  that  Mrs.  Livingstone  was  out  of  the  country  ! 

Sechele  wanted  to  go  to  England  and  tell  his  wrongs 
to  the  Queen.  He  went  as  far  as  the  Cape,  but  not 
having  the  money  to  go  farther,  was  obliged  to  return,  a 
thousand  miles,  to  his  own  devastated  country. 

Livingstone  pushed  on  toward  the  interior  of  Africa, 
reaching  Linyanti  in  the  following  year,  in  June,  1853. 
It  was  a  toilsome  journey.     Sometimes  they  waded  all 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  3G3 

day  long  through  floods,  bramble-bushes,  and  serrated 
grass  which  cut  the  hands  like  a  razor.  Feb.  4  he 
writes  in  his  journal:  "I  am  spared  in  health,  while 
all  the  company  have  been  attacked  by  fever.  If  God 
lias  accepted  my  service,  my  life  is  charmed  till  my 
work  is  done." 

To  Dr.  Moffat,  his  father-in-law,  he  writes  :  "  I  shall 
open  up  a  path  to  the  interior  or  perish.  I  never  have 
had  the  shadow  of  a  shade  of  doubt  as  to  the  propriety 
of  my  course." 

As  ever,  Livingstone  was  the  closest  observer  in 
natural  history  and  geology.  He  notes  the  habits  of 
the  great  land  tortoise  which  is  used  by  the  natives 
for  food.  "  When  about  to  deposit  her  eggs,  she  lets 
herself  into  the  ground  by  throwing  the  earth  up  round 
her  shell,  until  only  the  top  is  visible ;  then  covering  up 
he  eggs,  she  leaves  them  until  the  rains  begin  to  fall 
and  the  fresh  herbage  appears ;  the  young  ones  then 
come  out,  their  shell  still  quite  soft,  and,  unattended  by 
their  dam,  begin  the  world  for  themselves." 

They  saw  several  lions  on  the  journey.  "  He  seldom 
attacks  full-grown  animals,"  says  Livingstone ;  "  but 
frequently,  when  a  buffalo  calf  is  caught  by  him,  the 
cow  rushes  to  the  rescue,  and  a  toss  from  her  often  kills 
him.  .  .  .  Lions  never  go  near  aiiy  elephants  except  the 
calves,  which,  when  quite  young,  are  sometimes  torn  by 
them  ;  every  living  thing  retires  before  the  lordly  ele- 
phant." 

Serpents  also  abound.  One  python  which  they  shot 
was  eleven  feet  and  ten  inches  long,  and  as  thick  as  a 
man's  leg.  The  natives  do  not  like  to  destroy  these  huge 
snakes. 

Concerning  the  ostrich  this  close  observer  says  :  "The 


SG4  DAVID   LIVINGSTONE. 

ostrich  begins  to  lay  her  eggs  before  she  has  fixed 
on  a  spot  for  her  nest,  which  is  only  a  hollow  a  few 
inches  deep  in  the  sand,  and  about  a  yard  in  diameter. 
Solitary  eggs  are  thus  found  lying  forsaken  all  over  the 
country,  and  become  a  prey  to  the  jackal.  She  seems 
averse  to  risking  a  spot  for  a  nest,  and  often  lays  her 
eggs  in  that  of  another  ostrich,  so  that  as  many  as  forty- 
five  have  been  found  in  one  nest.  .  .  . 

"  Both  male  and  female  assist  in  the  incubations ;  but 
the  number  of  females  being  alway  greatest,  it  is  prob- 
able that  cases  occur  in  which  the  females  have  the 
entire  charge.  Several  eggs  lie  out  of  the  nest,  and  are 
thought  to  be  intended  as  food  for  the  first  of  the  newly 
hatched  brood  till  the  rest  come  out  and  enable  the 
whole  to  start  in  quest  of  food.  .  .  . 

"  The  organs  of  vision  in  this  bird  are  placed  so  high 
that  he  can  detect  an  enemy  at  a  great  distance,  but  the 
lion  sometimes  kills  him.  ...  It  seeks  safety  in 
flight ;  but  when  pursued  by  dogs,  it  may  be  seen  to 
turn  upon  them  and  inflict  a  kick,  which  is  vigorously 
applied,  and  sometimes  breaks  the  dog's  back." 

Mr.  H.  H.  Johnston,  Commissioner  for  Nyasaland, 
and  Consul-General  for  Portuguese  East  Africa,  says  : 
"  The  Bushmen,  as  is  well  known,  stalk  the  ostrich, 
and  approach  near  enough  to  kill  it,  by  disguising  the 
upper  part  of  their  bodies  with  the  cleverly  stuffed  skin 
of  a  cock-ostrich.  This  disguise  attracts  both  the  males 
and  the  females  among  the  inquisitive  birds  to  a  close 
inspection  of  the  hunter,  who,  however,  occasionally  finds 
himself  thwarted  by  his  own  cleverness,  for  he  imitates 
so  closely  the  appearance,  gait,  and  voice  of  a  cock- 
ostrich,  that  before  he  has  time  to  shoot  his  poisoned 
arrow,  some  furiously  jealous  male  among  the  real  os- 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  365 

triches  rushes  up  and  strikes  his  supposed  rival  to  the 
earth  with  a  stunning  blow  from  his  powerful  two-toed 
foot." 

Dr.  Livingstone  had  no  sympathy  with  those  persons 
who  hunt  for  mere  sport,  if  there  can  be  sport  in  killing 
living  things  !  "  If,  as  has  been  practised  by  some," 
says  the  explorer,  "  great  numbers  of  animals  are 
wounded  and  allowed  to  perish  miserably,  or  are  killed 
on  the  spot  and  left  to  be  preyed  on  by  vultures  and 
hyenas,  and  all  for  the  sole  purpose  of  making  a  '  bag,' 
then  I  take  it  to  be  evident  that  such  sportsmen  are 
pretty  far  gone  in  the  hunting  form  of  insanity." 

Mr.  Johnston  says  that  unless  measures  are  taken  for 
the  protection  of  the  zebras  and  buffaloes,  they  will  soon 
disappear  from  Africa.  "  The  main  object,"  he  says, 
"  of  all  the  lusty  young  Englishmen  to  whom  Africa  is 
now  becoming  fashionable,  and  who  pour  into  the  coun- 
try to  join  pioneer  forces  or  expeditions,  is  to  slaughter 
the  game  recklessly,  right  and  left,  uselessly,  heedlessly." 

After  spending  a  month  at  Linyanti,  Livingstone 
started  on  his  journey  towards  the  west  coast  of  Africa. 
The  chief  Sekeletu  and  about  one  hundred  and  sixty 
persons  accompanied  him  for  a  time.  The  journey  to 
Loanda  on  the  coast  took  them  from  Nov.  11,  1853,  to 
May  31,  1854,  a  little  over  six  months.  At  first  the 
country  was  flat,  though  there  were  many  gigantic  ant- 
hills. These  mounds  are  the  work  of  termites,  or  white 
ants,  which  seem  to  make  the  earth  fertile  in  the  same 
manner  that  worms  do,  as  has  been  shown  by  Darwin. 

"  These  heaps  and  mounds  are  so  conspicuous  that 
they  may  be  seen  for  miles,"  says  Professor  Henry  Druin- 
mond  in  his  "Tropical  Africa,"  "and  so  numerous  are 
they  and  so  useful  as  cover  to  the  sportsman,  that  with- 


366  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

out  them,  in  certain  districts,  hunting  would  be  impos- 
sible." They  are  seen  "  now  dotting  the  plain  in  groups 
like  a  small  cemetery,  now  rising  into  mounds,  singly  or 
in  clusters,  each  thirty  or  forty  feet  in  diameter  and  ten 
or  fifteen  feet  in  height." 

The  termite,  which  is  a  small  insect,  "  with  a  bloated, 
yellowish-white  body,"  lives  almost  entirely  upon  wood. 
"  Furniture,  tables,  chairs,  chests  of  drawers,"  says 
Professor  Drummond,  "  everything  made  of  wood,  is 
inevitably  attacked,  and  in  a  single  night  a  strong  trunk 
is  often  riddled  through  and  through.  ...  On  the  Tan. 
ganyika  plateau  I  have  camped  on  ground  which  was  as 
hard  as  adamant,  and  as  innocent  of  white  ants  apparently 
as  the  pavement  of  St.  Paul's,  and  wakened  next  morning 
to  find  a  stout  wooden  box  almost  gnawed  to  pieces. 
Leather  portmanteaus  share  the  same  fate,  and  the  only 
substances  which  seem  to  defy  the  marauders  are  iron 
and  tin." 

The  houses  of  the  ants  are  divided  into  numerous 
apartments,  the  best  reserved  for  the  queen,  a  large 
creature,  two  or  three  inches  long,  whom  the  tireless 
workers  feed  from  their  own  mouths.  She  lays  thou- 
sands of  eggs  in  a  single  day,  which  are  all  carried  by 
the  workers  into  nurseries  to  be  hatched.  There  is  sel- 
dom more  than  one  queen  in  a  colony. 

The  country  would  be  overrun  by  white  ants  were  it 
not  that  they  are  killed  and  used  for  food,  or  as  slaves 
by  the  black  ants.  The  latter  are  about  half  an  inch 
long,  with  a  slight  tinge  of  gray.  They  follow  a  few 
leaders,  who  never  do  any  work.  They  seem  to  be  guided 
on  their  marauding  expeditions  by  a  scent  left  on  the 
path  by  their  leaders. 

The  journey  to  Loanda,  never  undertaken  before  by 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  367 

a  European,  had  its  perils  as  well  as  intense  interest. 
Livingstone  had  thirty-one  attacks  of  fever  during  the 
journey.  Sometimes  chiefs  opposed  his  progress,  though 
in  the  main  they  were  friendly  ;  but  with  great  tact 
and  wisdom,  he  always  opened  a  way  for  himself  and 
his  men.  They  sailed  up  the  Zambesi  in  canoes.  They 
carried  their  burdens  around  falls  —  Livingstone  made 
their  loads  very  light,  so  as  not  to  discourage  them  — 
he  rode  on  ox-back  when  they  went  across  the  country, 
and  whenever  it  was  possible  he  preached  and  reasoned 
with  the  different  tribes,  hundreds  often  gathering  to 
hear  him. 

Where  the  slave-trade  did  not  exist,  Livingstone 
found  very  little  war.  "  Three  brothers,  Barolongs," 
he  says,  "  fought  for  the  possession  of  a  woman  who  was 
considered  worth  a  battle,  and  the  tribe  has  remained 
permanently  divided  ever  since." 

Among  the  Balondas  he  found  several  chiefs  who 
were  women.  One  named  Nyamoana  was  the  sister  of 
Shinte,  the  greatest  Balonda  chief  in  that  part  of  the 
country.  The  chief  and  her  husband,  the  latter  dressed 
in  a  kilt  of  green  and  red  baize,  and  armed  with  a  spear 
and  broadsword,  sat  on  a  raised  circular  platform  with 
one  hundred  armed  persons  surrounding  them,  when 
they  received  the  first  white  man  in  their  country. 

"  We  put  down  our  arms,"  says  Livingstone,  "  about 
forty  yards  off,  and  I  walked  up  to  the  centre  of  the 
circular  bench,  and  saluted  him  in  the  usual  way  by 
clapping  the  hands  together  in  their  fashion.  He  pointed 
to  his  wife,  as  much  as  to  say  the  honor  belongs  to  her. 
I  saluted  her  in  the  same  way,  and  a  mat  having  been 
brought,  I  squatted  down  in  front  of  her." 

Livingstone  explained  his  mission  among  the  people, 


368  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

which  words  his  interpreter  gave  to  another,  he  repeat- 
ing it  to  the  husband,  and  he  as  the  fourth  speaker  made 
it  known  to  the  queen.  The  response  came  back  in  the 
same  manner.  He  showed  the  people  his  watch  and 
compass.  His  magic  lantern  was  also  a  never-failing 
source  of  pleasure  to  the  people. 

The  chief  wished  to  send  an  escort  to  her  brother 
Shinte,  but  insisted  that  they  must  go  by  land  instead 
of  by  water,  as  the  cataract  was  difficult  to  pass,  and 
the  Balobale  tribe  might  kill  them. 

Livingstone  protested  that  he  did  not  fear  the  tribe, 
having  been  so  often  threatened  with  death,  and  pre- 
ferred the  water  route.  He  ordered  his  men  to  take 
the  baggage  to  the  canoes ;  but  Manenko,  the  daughter 
of  Nyamoana,  a  girl  about  twenty  and  a  chief  herself, 
gave  other  orders  to  the  men  and  seized  the  burdens 
herself.  Laying  her  hand  on  Livingstone's  shoulder, 
she  said  with  a  motherly  look,  "  Now,  my  little  man, 
just  do  as  the  rest  have  done."  "  My  feelings  of  annoy- 
ance of  course  vanished,"  says  Livingstone. 

Manenko,  accompanied  by  her  husband  and  her 
drummer,  lead  the  company  in  a  pouring  rain.  "  Being 
on  ox-back,"  says  the  traveller,  "  I  kept  pretty  close  to 
our  leader,  and  asked  her  why  she  did  not  clothe  her- 
self during  the  rain,  and  learned  that  it  is  not  con- 
sidered proper  for  a  chief  to  appear  effeminate.  .  .  .  My 
men,  in  admiration  of  her  pedestrian  powers,  every  now 
and  then  remarked,  '  Manenko  is  a  soldier ;  '  and 
thoroughly  wet  and  cold,  we  were  all  glad  when  she 
proposed  a  halt  to  prepare  our  night's  lodging  on  the 
banks  of  a  stream." 

The  company  suffered  from  want  of  food,  and  would 
have  had  nothing  save  that  Manenko  begged  maize  for 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  369 

them,  and  ground  it  for  the  white  man  with  her  own 
hands. 

When  they  stopped  at  a  village  over  night,  the  people 
took  off  the  tops  of  their  huts  and  brought  them  to 
Livingstone,  who,  propping  them  up  with  stakes,  thus 
had  a  comfortable  shelter.  Every  one  who  came  to 
salute  Manenko  or  himself  rubbed  the  upper  parts  of 
the  arms  and  chest  with  ashes  ;  those  who  wished  to 
show  profounder  reverence  put  ashes  on  their  faces. 

Shinte  gave  the  explorer  a  grand  reception.  In  the 
Kotla,  or  place  of  audience,  on  a  throne  covered  with  a 
leopard's  skin,  dressed  in  a  checked  jacket  with  kilt  of 
scarlet  baize  edged  with  green,  his  neck  hung  with 
beads,  his  limbs  covered  with  iron  and  copper  armlets 
and  bracelets,  a  helmet  crowned  with  goose  feathers  on 
his  head,  surrounded  by  over  a  thousand  of  his  people, 
Shinte  made  an  imposing  appearance.  Behind  him  sat 
a  hundred  women,  the  chief  wife,  Odena,  in  front  with 
a  curious  red  cap  on  her  head.  Nine  speakers  made 
orations,  musical  instruments  were  played,  and  guns 
discharged.  Livingstone  and  his  men  sat  under  a  tree 
about  forty  yards  from  the  chief.  Shinte  had  never 
seen  a  white  man  before,  and  thought  the  traveller 
"  had  come  from  the  gods." 

Livingstone  made  Shinte  a  present  of  an  ox;  but  when 
Manenko,  his  niece,  heard  of  it,  she  said,  "  This  white 
man  belonged  to  her ;  she  had  brought  him  here,  and 
therefore  the  ox  was  hers,  not  Shinte's."  .  .  .  She  there- 
fore had  the  ox  slaughtered,  and  gave  Shinte  a  leg  only. 
He  made  no  complaint,  her  word  seeming  law  here  as 
elsewhere. 

Shinte-  offered  Livingstone  a  slave  girl  ten  years  old, 
Baying    that   he   always    presented    his    visitors  with    a 


370  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

child.  Livingstone  thanked  him,  but  told  him  that  he 
thought  it  wrong  to  take  a  child  away  from  her  parents  ; 
that  he  had  four  children,  and  should  be  very  sad  if  a 
chief  took  one  and  gave  it  away. 

On  leaving  the  friendly  chief,  he  hung  a  conical  shell 
round  the  neck  of  Livingstone,  saying,  "There,  now  you 
have  a  proof  of  my  friendship." 

Other  chiefs  were  likewise  courteous,  giving  him 
guides  and  food.  Sometimes  they  shot  one  of  their  white 
cows  for  him,  which  run  wild  like  buffaloes.  Living- 
stone gave  them  presents,  as  many  as  his  limited  means 
allowed  —  cloth,  beads,  razors,  and  the  like.  One  leading 
man,  Mozinkwa,  gave  him  many  things  from  his  garden, 
and  the  missionary  promised  the  wife  some  cloth  when 
he  returned.  When  he  came  back  on  his  homeward 
journey,  the  wife  was  dead,  and  according  to  their 
custom,  Mozinkwa  had  moved  away,  leaving  garden, 
trees,  and  huts  to  ruin.  If  a  man  ever  visits  the  place 
where  his  favorite  wife  dies,  it  is  to  pray  to  her,  or  to 
make  an  offering. 

As  ever,  Livingstone  took  careful  scientific  observa- 
tions as  to  the  country,  its  formation,  the  rivers,  fruits, 
flowers,  and  animals.  "If  we  step  on  shore,"  he  says, 
"  a  species  of  plover  .  .  .  follows  you,  flying  overhead, 
and  is  most  persevering  in  its  attempts  to  give  fair 
warning  to  all  the  animals  within  hearing  to  flee  from 
the  approaching  danger." 

Another  bird,  by  the  name  siksak,  has  a  sharp  spur  on 
its  shoulder,  much  like  that  on  the  heel  of  a  cock,  but 
scarcely  half  an  inch  in  length.  It  is  famed  for  its 
friendship  with  the  crocodile  of  the  Nile. 

In  some  of  the  almost  impenetrable  forests  richly  col- 
ored  and  peculiar  birds  abound.     "  The  pretty    white 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  371 

ardetta  is  seen  in  flocks  settling  on  the  backs  of  large 
herds  of  buffaloes,  and  following  them  on  the  wing  as 
they  run." 

Mr.  Johnston  says,  "  When  the  buffalo  is  quietly  graz- 
ing, the  red-billed  weaver-bird  may  be  seen  hopping  on 
the  ground,  snapping  up  insects  and  other  food,  or  sitting 
on  the  buffalo's  back,  picking  off  the  ticks  with  which 
its  skin  is  infested.  The  sight  of  this  bird  being  more 
acute  than  that  of  the  buffalo,  it  is  soon  alarmed  by  the 
approach  of  danger,  and,  by  flying  up,  apprises  the  buffalo 
of  its  suspicions.  When  the  big  beast  gallops  away  from 
the  approach  of  the  slinking  lion  or  the  human  hunter, 
the  little  weaver-bird  sits  calmly  on  its  back  and  is 
borne  off  to  fresh  fields  and  pastures  new." 

Another  African  bird  is  the  companion  of  the  rhino- 
ceros. It  is  called  "  Kala  "  by  the  Bechuanos.  When 
they  wish  to  speak  of  their  dependence  on  each  other, 
they  say  "  my  rhinoceros."  The  satellites  of  a  chief  are 
thus  called.  The  rhinoceros  feeds  by  night,  and  the 
bird  will  utter  its  well-known  call  for  its  big  companion 
in  the  morning.  The  rhinoceros  has  not  keen  sight  but 
an  acute  ear,  and  is  therefore  warned  of  danger  by  its 
bird-friend. 

Large  herds  of  hippopotami  are  seen  in  the  still,  deep 
water.  They  ascend  the  banks  to  graze  at  night.  "  They 
are  guided  back  to  the  water  by  the  scent;  but  a  long- 
continued  pouring  rain  makes  it  impossible  for  them  to 
perceive,  by  that  means,  in  which  direction  the  river 
lies,  and  they  are  found  bewildered  on  the  land.  The 
hunters  take  advantage  of  their  helplessness  on  these 
occasions  to  kill  them." 

They  lie  hidden  beneath  the  water,  coming  up  every 
few  minutes  to  breathe.     The  young  lie  on  the  necks  of 


372  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

their  mothers,  who  come  frequently  to  the  surface, 
knowing  the  needs  of  their  little  ones.  "  In  the  rivers 
of  Loanda,"  says  Livingstone,  "  where  they  are  much  in 
danger  of  being  shot,  even  the  hippopotamus  gains  wit  by 
experience  ;  for,  while  those  in  the  Zambesi  put  up  their 
heads  openly  to  blow,  those  referred  to  keep  their  noses 
among  water-plants,  and  breathe  so  quietly  that  one 
would  not  dream  of  their  existence  in  the  river  except 
by  footprints  on  the  banks." 

Large,  yellow-spotted  spiders  abound.  One  kind  is 
often  found  inside  the  huts  of  the  Makololo.  It  is 
spotted,  brown  in  color,  and  half  an  inch  in  diameter. 
"  It  is  harmless,  though  an  ugly  neighbor,'7  says  Living- 
stone. 

There  were  many  rivers  to  be  forded,  and  swamps  to  be 
waded  through.  In  crossing  one  stream  the  men  held 
on  to  the  tails  of  the  oxen.  Livingstone  intended  to  do 
this;  but  in  the  deep  part,  before  he  could  dismount,  his 
ox  dashed  off  with  his  companions.  About  twenty  of 
the  men  rushed  to  the  aid  of  Livingstone,  whom  they 
supposed  would  drown.  Great  was  their  joy  when  they 
found  that  he  could  swim  like  themselves. 

They  laughed  after  this  at  the  idea  of  being  frightened 
by  rivers.  "  We  can  all  swim.  Who  carried  the  white 
man  across  the  river  but  himself  ? "  "I  felt  proud  of 
their  praise,"  said  Livingstone. 

"  Sinbad,"  Livingstone's  ox,  was  not  a  very  agreeable 
animal.  "  He  had  a  softer  back,"  says  Livingstone, 
"  but  a  much  more  intractable  temper.  His  horns  were 
bent  downward  and  hung  loosely,  so  he  could  do  no 
harm  with  them ;  but  as  we  wended  our  way  slowly 
along  the  narrow  path,  he  would  suddenly  dart 
aside.  .  .  . 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  873 

"When  Sinbad  ran  in  below  a  climber  stretched  over 
the  path  so  low  that  I  conld  not  stoop  under  it,  I  was 
dragged  off,  and  carae  down  on  the  crown  of  my  head ; 
and  he  never  allowed  an  opportunity  of  the  kind  to  pass 
without  trying  to  inflict  a  kick,  as  if  I  neither  had  nor 
deserved  his  love." 

The  animal  would  never  allow  Livingstone  to  hold  an 
umbrella,  so  that  he  was  very  often  drenched.  He  fre- 
quently put  his  watch  under  his  arm-pit  to  keep  it  dry. 

The  tribe  of  Chiboque  gave  him  some  trouble,  insist- 
ing that  he  should  give  a  man  to  be  a  slave,  as  pay  for 
a  passage  through  their  country.  One  Chiboque  made  a 
charge  at  his  head  from  behind ;  but  Livingstone,  who 
was  as  brave  as  he  was  kind,  brought  the  muzzle  of  his 
gun  to  the  mouth  of  the  young  man,  when  he  quickly 
retreated.  The  tribe  had  been  accustomed  to  receive  a 
slave  from  every  slave-trader  who  passed  by,  but  Liv- 
ingstone informed  them  that  his  men  were  all  free. 

Finally  the  chief  said,  "  If  you  give  us  an  ox,  we  will 
give  you  whatever  you  wish,  and  then  we  shall  be 
friends."  ...  To  this  Livingstone  consented ;  and  when 
the  ox  was  slaughtered,  the  chief  sent  a  bag  of  meal  and 
two  or  three  pounds  of  Livingstone's  own  ox ! 

The  slave-trade,  here  as  elsewhere,  was  always  cruel 
and  despicable.  It  was  the  custom  of  one  of  the  chiefs 
in  this  part  of  the  country  to  take  all  the  goods  of  a 
slave-trader,  and  then  send  out  a  party  to  some  neigh- 
boring village,  seize  all  the  people,  and  sell  them  as 
slaves  to  pay  for  the  goods.  When  Livingstone  reasoned 
with  one  of  his  head  men  as  to  the  sin  of  such  a  course, 
he  replied,  "  We  do  not  go  up  to  God,  as  you  do ;  we 
are  put  into  the  ground." 

The    obstacles   became   so   great    from    swamps    and 


374  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

exorbitant  chiefs  who  demanded  "a  man  or  an  ox  or  a 
tusk,"  that  some  of  his  own  men  determined  to  turn 
back.  Worn  to  a  skeleton  from  fever,  and  his  clothing 
ragged,  he  informed  them  that  he  should  go  to  the  coast 
if  he  went  alone,  and  sadly  went  into  his  tent  to  pray. 

His  head  man  presently  came  in,  and  said,  "  Do  not 
be  disheartened ;  we  will  never  leave  you.  Wherever 
you  lead,  we  will  follow."  They  "knew  no  one  but 
Sekeletu  and  Livingstone,  and  would  die  for  him." 

When  they  reached  the  river  Quango,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  yards  broad,  they  were  aided  by  a  young  Portu- 
guese sergeant  of  militia;  and  Livingstone  finally  reached 
Loanda  in  safety,  May  31,  with  his  twenty-seven  fol- 
lowers. Here  he  was  received  most  cordially  by  Mr. 
Edmund  Gabriel,  the  British  commissioner  for  the  sup- 
pression of  the  slave-trade. 

His  Makololo  were  astonished  when  they  saw  the 
ocean.  "We  were  marching  along  with  our  father," 
they  said,  "  believing  what  the  ancients  had  told  us  was 
true,  that  the  world  had  no  end;  but  all  at  once  the 
world  said  to  us,  'I  am  finished;  there  is  no  more 
of  me.' " 

He  was  so  prostrated  that  he  was  urged  to  go  to  Eng- 
land and  see  his  family;  but  he  steadfastly  refused,  for 
he  had  promised  his  Makololo  that  he  would  bring  them 
back  to  their  own  land.  He  sent  his  journals,  maps, 
and  observations  by  the  mail-packet  Forerunner,  which 
was  lost  off  Madeira  with  all  her  passengers  but  one. 
Had  not  Livingstone  kept  his  promise  to  his  colored 
men,  he,  too,  doubtless  would  have  perished. 

It  was  a  tiresome  work  to  rewrite,  as  far  as  possible, 
his  journals  and  maps  :  "  A  feat,"  says  Thomas  Hughes, 
u  equal  to  that  of  Carlyle  in  rewriting  the  volume  of  his 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  375 

French  Revolution,  after  its  destruction  by  John  Stuart 
Mill's  housemaid." 

This  long  journey,  never  before  made  by  a  white  man, 
produced  great  interest  in  England.  The  London  Geo- 
graphical Society,  on  motion  of  Sir  Roderick  Murchison, 
awarded  Livingstone  their  gold  medal  —  their  highest 
honor. 

On  Sept.  20,  1854,  he  began  his  homeward  journey. 
Among  many  presents  for  the  chiefs  he  took  a  horse  for 
Sekeletu,  which  soon  sickened  and  died.  The  Chiboque 
head  men  were  not  much  pleasanter  than  in  the  outward 
journey ;  but  when  Livingstone  held  a  six-barrelled  re- 
volver before  the  face  of  the  chief,  the  latter  said,  "  Oh, 
I  have  only  come  to  speak  to  you,  and  wish  peace  only." 
The  chief  feared  to  turn  lest  Livingstone  should  shoot 
him  in  the  back. 

"If  I  wanted  to  kill  you  I  could  shoot  you  in  the  face 
as  well,"  was  the  reply.  And  mounting  his  ox,  to  show 
that  he  was  not  afraid  of  the  chief's  shooting  him  in  the 
back,  he  rode  away. 

Manenko  sent -her  husband  fifteen  miles  to  meet  and 
welcome  them,  and  cement  their  friendship  by  becoming 
"  blood-relations."  The  hands  of  the  parties  are  joined  ; 
then  a  slight  cut  is  made  on  the  hands,  on  the  stomach 
of  each,  and  on  the  right  cheeks  and  foreheads.  A 
small  quantity  of  blood  is  taken  from  the  wounds  by  a 
stalk  of  grass,  and  put  into  pots  of  beer,  when  each 
drinks  the  blood  of  the  other.  After  this  rite  they  are 
perpetual  friends.     Presents  are  then  exchanged. 

All  along  on  the  homeward  route  they  were  warmly 
welcomed.  Every  village  gave  them  an  ox  and  some- 
times two.  At  the  Makololo  villages  they  were  received 
as  people  who  had  risen  from  the  dead,  as  it  was  believed 


376  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

they  would  never  return.  They  were  kissed  on  the 
cheeks  and  hands  by  their  friends,  while  the  women 
danced  and  sang  "  lulliloos." 

Whenever  it  was  possible  to  send  a  letter  to  the  loved 
ones  in  England,  Livingstone  did  so.  He  wrote  to  his 
wife  :  "  It  occurs  to  me,  my  dearest  Mary,  that  if  I  send 
you  a  note  from  different  parts  on  the  way  through  this 
colony,  some  of  them  will  surely  reach  you ;  and  if  they 
carry  any  of  the  affection  I  bear  to  you  in  their  compo- 
sition, they  will  not  fail  to  comfort  you."  Speaking  of 
Loanda,  he  says,  after  he  had  recovered  from  the  fever, 
"  I  remained  a  short  time  longer  than  that  actually 
required  to  set  me  on  my  legs,  in  longing  expectation  of 
a  letter  from  you.  None  came.  ...  I  hope  a  letter  from 
you  may  be  waiting  for  me  at  Zambesi.  Love  to  all  the 
children.     Accept  the  assurance  of  unabated  love." 

Poor  Sinbad,  the  ox,  died  on  the  way  home,  from  the 
bite  of  the  tsetse.  This  poisonous  insect  is  no  larger 
than  the  common  house-fly,  and  is  brown  like  the  honey- 
bee, with  three  or  four  yellow  bars  on  the  hind  part  of 
its  body.  Its  peculiar  buzz  is  well  known  by  travellers, 
as  it  is  certain  death  to  the  ox,  horse,  and  dog.  There 
are  whole  sections  of  African  country  where  cattle  have 
perished  by  the  thousands.  Sebituane  once  lost  nearly 
all  the  cattle  of  his  tribe.  There  is  no  cure  yet  known 
for  the  disease.  Its  bite  is  not  poisonous  to  man  nor  to 
most  wild  animals. 

Arriving  at  Linyanti,  Livingstone  spent  eight  weeks 
with  Sekeletu,  who  showed  him  every  kindness.  He 
preached  often,  he  studied  the  languages,  and  he  won 
the  hearts  of  the  people  by  his  noble  life.  "  No  one  ever 
gains  much  influence  in  this  country,"  he  said,  "without 
purity  and    uprightness.     The    acts    of    a   stranger  are 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  377 

keenly  scrutinized  by  both  young  and  old;  and  seldom  is 
the  judgment  pronounced,  even  by  the  heathen,  unfair  or 
uncharitable.  I  have  heard  women  speaking  in  admira- 
tion of  a  white  man  because  he  was  pure,  and  never  was 
guilty  of  any  secret  immorality." 

Sekeletu  provided  Livingstone  with  cows  to  furnish 
him  milk,  slaughtered  oxen  for  him,  and  when  he  de- 
parted, Nov.  3,  1855,  for  the  eastern  coast  of  Africa,  to 
study  the  people  and  find  suitable  mission-fields,  the 
chief  and  two  hundred  of  his  followers  accompanied  him 
for  a  long  distance,  leaving  at  their  departure  one  hun- 
dred and  fourteen  men,  Sekwebu  being  the  principal 
guide,  twelve  oxen,  —  three  for  riding  upon,  —  and  an 
abundance  of  fresh  butter  and  honey. 

Livingstone  was  deeply  affected  by  this  kind  treat- 
ment. In  a  severe  thunder-storm  at  night  Sekeletu 
covered  the  traveller  with  his  own  blanket,  and  lay  on 
the  ground  uncovered  for  the  night.  "  If  such  men 
must  perish  by  the  advance  of  civilization,"  says  Living- 
stone, "  as  certain  races  of  animals  do  before  others,  it 
is  a  pity.  God  grant  that  ere  this  time  comes  they  may 
receive  that  gospel  which  is  a  solace  for  the  soul  in 
death ! " 

Mamire,  the  mother  of  Sekeletn,  said  to  Livingstone 
on  his  departure,  "You  are  now  going  among  people 
who  cannot  be  trusted,  because  we  have  used  them 
badly;  but  you  go  with  a  different,  message  from  any 
they  ever  heard  before,  and  Jesus  will  be  with  you  and 
help  you,  though  among  enemies." 

He  had  not  gone  very  far  along  the  Zambesi  before  he 
discovered  the  celebrated    falls,  which  he   named  a 
his  sovereign,  Victoria   Falls.     Mr.  Johnston  calls  this 
"  One  of    the    wonders  of    the   world.   .   .  .     The    broad 


378  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

Zambesi,  flowing  nearly  due  south,  and  nineteen  hundred 
yards  wide,  is  cleft  by  a  chasm  —  a  crack  in  its  bed  — 
running  athwart  its  course.  The  whole  river  plunges 
precipitously  down  this  chasm  to  a  depth  of  about  three 
hundred  and  sixty  feet,  or,  counting  the  depth  of  the 
water,  say  four  hundred  feet.  The  entire  volume  of 
water  rolls  clear  over  quite  unbroken ;  but  after  a  de- 
scent of  four  hundred  feet  the  glassy  cascade  becomes 
a  seething,  bubbling,  boiling  froth,  from  which  spring 
upwards  high  into  the  air,  immense  columns  of  steam- 
like spray." 

This  mass  of  vapor,  forming  from  three  to  six  columns, 
becomes  condensed,  and  descends  in  a  perpetual  shower 
of  rain.  The  natives  call  this  mighty  cataract  Mosio- 
atunya,  "  smoke  sounds  there."  The  verdure  in  this 
locality  is  of  great  variety  and  beauty. 

Some  of  the  chiefs  whom  he  met  were  hostile.  They 
had  never  seen  a  white  man  before,  and  knew  only  that 
some  other  nations,  as  the  Arabs,  were  slave-traders. 

Livingstone  showed  them  his  skin.  They  said,  "We 
never  saw  skin  so  white  as  that.  You  must  be  one  of 
the  tribe  that  loves  the  black  man,"  and  they  allowed 
him  to  go  onward. 

One  chief,  Moyara,  had  fifty-four  human  skulls  hung 
on  the  points  of  stakes  around  his  hamlet.  When  asked 
why  his  father,  the  chief  before  him,  had  killed  these 
people,  some  of  whom  were  mere  boys,  he  replied,  "  To 
show  his  fierceness." 

If  a  man  wished  to  curry  favor  with  a  Batoka  chief, 
whenever  he  met  a  stranger  he  cut  off  his  head  and 
brought  it  back  to  adorn  the  fence  of  the  ruler. 

The  Batoka  smoke  the  "mutokwane,"  a  weed  whose 
narcotic  effects  they  like ;  and  it  produces  a  sort  of  frenzy 


DAVID   LIVINGSTONE.  379 

in  which  they  can  make  a  more  effective  onslaught  on 
their  enemies.  The  hashish  in  use  among  the  Turks 
is  an  extract  of  the  same  plant,  the  common  hemp  of 
the  variety  Indica. 

Much  of  the  country  through  which  they  passed  was 
beautiful  in  its  flora.  Of  the  many  lilies  Mr.  Johnston 
says  :  "  Crinum  is  the  commonest  lily  genus,  and  has 
species  that  are  white,  pink  and  white,  and  even  scarlet 
in  their  blooms.  To  see,  as  one  may  do  towards  the 
close  of  the  rainy  season,  fields  near  the  river's  bank  or 
glades  in  the  forest  an  almost  uninterrupted  sheet  of 
lily  blooms  for  several  acres  in  extent,  is  a  sight  so 
lovely  that  you  pardon  Africa  all  its  sins  on  the  spot." 

There  are  also  great  fields  of  a  flower  like  the  crocus, 
purple,  yellow,  white,  and  mauve  colors.  After  the 
flowers  come  bright  red  seed-pods,  which  contain  the 
"grains  of  Paradise."  Livingstone  studied  carefully 
the  geology  of  the  country  and  the  beasts  and  birds. 

The  elephants  were  a  source  of  great  interest,  as  well 
as  of  use  for  food  for  his  men.  "  The  male  and  female 
elephants,"  he  says,  "  are  never  seen  in  one  herd.  The 
young  males  remain  with  their  dams  only  until  they  are 
full  grown."  Their  food  consists  of  bulbs,  roots,  and 
branches.  They  will  break  off  trees  as  large  as  a  man's 
body,  that  they  may  feed  on  the  tender  shoots  at  the 
top. 

When  attacked  by  the  spears  of  the  natives,  the 
mother  elephant  will  place  herself  on  the  danger  side 
of  her  calf,  and  pass  her  proboscis  over  it  again  and 
again,  as  if  to  assure  it  of  safety. 

A  bird  called  the  red-beaked  hornbill  abounds.  The 
mother-bird  enters  the  nest  made  of  her  own  feathers. 
The  male  then  plasters  up  the  hole. in  the  tree  in  which 


380  DAVID   LIVINGSTONE. 

the  nest  is  built,  leaving  only  a  narrow  slit  through  which 
he  feeds  her.  She  lays  her  eggs  and  hatches  them, 
remaining  two  or  three  months  till  the  birds  are  ready 
to  fly.  The  male  meantime  becomes  so  thin  that  he  not 
infrequently  dies  from  his  over-work  to  feed  them  all. 

The  birds  called  honey-guides,  by  their  chirping,  direct 
men  to  the  places  where  wild  bees  store  their  honey. 
It  is  not  known  whether  this  is  done  out  of  friendliness 
for  man,  or  for  a  share  of  the  honey,  which  is  always 
given  them. 

The  men  of  some  of  the  tribes  were  quite  nude.  The 
women  pierced  the  upper  lip,  gradually  enlarging  the 
orifice  till  they  could  insert  a  shell.  "  The  deformed  lips 
of  the  women  make  them  look  very  ugly,"  says  Living- 
stone ;  "  I  never  saw  one  smile."  When  asked  why  they 
did  this,  they  replied  simply,  "  It  is  the  fashion."  When 
a  chief  died,  often  his  servants  were  killed,  that  he  might 
have  them  in  the  next  world. 

Some  tribes  built  their  huts  on  high  stages  to  protect 
them  from  spotted  hyenas,  lions,  and  elephants.  The 
wives  are  usually  purchased  of  the  parents  for  so  many 
cattle  or  goats.  "If  nothing  is  given,  the  family  from 
which  she  has  come  can  claim  the  children  as  a  part  of 
itself.     The  payment  is  made  to  sever  this  bond." 

"  When  a  young  man  takes  a  liking  for  a  girl  of  an- 
other village,"  says  Livingstone,  "and  the  parents  have 
no  objection  to  the  match,  he  is  obliged  to  come  and  live 
at  their  village.  He  has  to  perforin  certain  services  for 
the  mother-in-law,  such  as  keeping  her  well  supplied 
with  firewood.  ...  If  he  becomes  tired  of  living  in  this 
state  of  vassalage,  and  wishes  to  return  to  his  own 
family,  he  is  obliged  to  leave  all  his  children  behind  — 
they  belong  to  the  wife." 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  381 

On  May  20,  1856,  Livingstone  reached  Quilimane,  on 
the  eastern  coast  of  Africa.  He  met  a  cordial  welcome 
from  the  Portuguese,  who  had  felt  sure  that  no  European 
could  pass  through  the  dangerous  tribes.  Two  Scripture 
texts  were  of  especial  comfort  to  him  in  all  his  journeys: 
"  In  all  thy  ways  acknowledge  Him,  and  He  shall  direct 
thy  steps."  "Commit  thy  way  unto  the  Lord ;  trust  also 
in  Him  ;  and  He  shall  bring  it  to  pass." 

After  six  weeks  at  Quilimane,  Livingstone  started  for 
England  to  see  his  family,  from  whom  he  had  not  even 
heard  for  three  years,  leaving  his  men  with  the  promise 
"that  nothing  but  death  should  prevent  his  return." 
He  sailed  on  the  steamer  Frolic,  taking  his  guide, 
Sekwebu,  with  him  at  the  earnest  request  of  the  latter. 

"  You  will  die  if  you  go  to  a  country  so  cold  as  mine," 
Livingstone  had  said  to  him. 

"That  is  nothing,"  he  answered;  "let  me  die  at  your 
feet." 

The  passage  was  rough,  and  the  poor  man  became 
deranged.  He  leaped  overboard ;  and  though  he  could 
swim  well,  he' pulled  himself  down,  hand  under  hand,  by 
the  chain  cable.     They  could  not  recover  his  body. 

The  shaft  of  the  engine  broke  on  the  passage  home- 
ward, but  Livingstone  finally  reached  England,  Dec.  12, 
1856.  Nearly  five  years  had  passed  since  he  had  seen 
his  wife  and  children.  To  her  witli  her  four  children, 
away  from  husband  and  parents,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Moffat, 
in  a  strange  country,  the  separation  was  almost  unbear- 
able.    Her  health  had  broken  under  the  strain. 

She  had  penned  this  simple  but  touching  poem  to  give 
him  when  he  came,  with  the  hope  that  they  should 
never  be  parted  again.  The  final  parting  was  not  long 
in  coming. 


382  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

"  A  hundred  thousand  welcomes,  and  it's  time  for  you  to  come 
From  the  far  land  of  the  foreigner,  to  your  country  and  your 

home. 
Oh,  long  as  we  were  parted,  ever  since  you  went  away, 
I  never  passed  a  dreamless  night,  or  knew  an  easy  day. 


A  hundred  thousand  welcomes  !  how  my  heart  is  gushing  o'er 
With  the  love  and  joy  and  wonder  thus  to  see  your  face  once 

more. 
IIow  did  I  live  without  you  these  long,  long  years  of  woe  ? 
It  seems  as  if  'twould  kill  me  to  be  parted  from  you  now. 

You'll  never  part  me,  darling,  there's  a  promise  in  your  eye  ; 
I  may  tend  you  while  I'm  living,  you  will  watch  me  when  I 

die  ; 
And  if  death  but  kindly  lead  me  to  the  blessed  home  on  high, 
What  a  hundred  thousand  welcomes  will  await  you  in  the  sky! 

Mary." 

Livingstone  had  been  away  from  England  sixteen 
years.  He  was  everywhere  welcomed  with  ovations. 
The  Royal  Geographical  Society  held  a  special  meeting 
to  receive  him.  The  London  Missionary  Society,  with 
Lord  Shaftesbury  in  the  chair,  gave  him  cordial  greeting. 
A  great  gathering  assembled  at  the  Mansion  House  to  do 
honor  to  the  man  who  had  travelled  at  that  time  over 
not  less  than  eleven  thousand  miles  of  Africa.  He  was 
given  the  freedom  of  the  city  of  London  in  a  box  valued 
at  fifty  guineas,  and  of  Hamilton,  where  his  mother  and 
the  rest  of  his  family  resided.  Glasgow  presented  him 
a  gold  box  with  the  freedom  of  the  city,  and  a  gift  of 
two  thousand  pounds  from  the  citizens. 

To  the  cotton-spinners  of  that  city  he  said  that  toil 
belonged  to  most  of  the  human  race,  and  to  be  poor  was 
no  reproach.  The  Saviour  occupied  a  humble  position. 
"  My  great  object,"  he  said,  "was  to  be  like  Him  —  to 


DAVID   LIVINGSTONE.  883 

imitate  him  as  far  as  He  could  be  imitated.  We  have 
not  the  power  of  working  miracles,  but  we  can  do  a 
little  in  the  way  of  healing  the  sick,  and  I  sought  a 
medical  education  in  order  that  I  might  be  like  Him." 

Edinburgh  and  Dublin  and  Manchester  followed  the 
example  of  Glasgow.  Little  Blantyre,  where  he  had 
worked  in  the  mills,  gave  him  a  public  reception.  Ox- 
ford made  him  D.C.L.,  Glasgow  an  LL.D.,  and  the 
Royal  Society  made  him  a  Fellow.  At  Cambridge,  where 
he  enjoyed  the  friendship  of  such  men  as  Sedgwick, 
Whewell,  and  Selwyn,  he  practically  formed  the  Univer- 
sities Mission,  which  has  wrought  such  a  noble  work  in 
Central  Africa.  He  said  to  the  students  and  the  pro- 
fessors, "  I  know  that  in  a  few  years  I  shall  be  cut  off  in 
that  country,  which  is  now  open.  Do  not  let  it  be  shut 
again.  I  go  back  to  Africa  to  make  an  open  path  for 
commerce  and  Christianity.  Do  you  carry  out  the  work 
which  I  have  begun.     /  leave  it  with  you  !  " 

Concerning  the  work  of  the  Universities  Mission,  Mr. 
Thomas  Hughes  says :  "  From  the  island  centre  at 
Zanzibar  the  mission  has  now  spread  over  one  thousand 
miles  of  the  neighboring  mainland.  Its  staff,  including 
the  bishop  and  three  archdeacons,  numbers  ninety-seven, 
of  whom  two  deacons  and  thirty-two  teachers  and  readers 
are  natives,  and  nineteen  English  ladies.  Its  income 
for  1887  exceeded  fifteen  thousand  five  hundred  pounds. 
It  has  three  stations  on  the  island  and  ten  on  the 
mainland."  One  station  has  a  fine  stone  church,  and 
a  home  for  one  hundred  and  fifteen  boys.  A  sister- 
hood trains  large  classes  of  women. 

Livingstone  took  lodgings  in  Chelsea,  just  out  of 
London,  and,  surrounded  by  his  family,  wrote  his  first 
book,  "  Missionary  Journeys  and  Researches  in  South 


384  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

Africa."  The  work  was  irksome  to  the  active  man. 
When  it  was  finished,  he  said,  "I  think  I  would 
rather  cross  the  African  continent  again  than  undertake 
to  write  another  book.  It  is  far  easier  to  travel  than  to 
write  about  it."  The  book  had  a  large  sale,  the  London 
trade  alone  requiring  ten  thousand  copies.  Livingstone 
having  been  appointed  Her  Majesty's  Consul  at  Quili- 
maneforthe  east  coast  of  Africa  as  well  as  commander  of 
an  expedition  to  explore  Eastern  and  Central  Africa,  — 
the  Queen  had  granted  him  a  most  interesting  private  in- 
terview, —  he  sailed  from  England  with  his  wife  and 
youngest  child,  Oswell,  March  10,  1858.  It  was  a  sad 
parting  from  the  three  children,  Robert,  Thomas,  and 
Agnes,  But  he  rejoiced  that  his  wife  was  at  last  with 
him.  "  Glad  indeed  am  I  that  I  am  to  be  accompanied 
by  my  guardian  angel,"  he  said. 

On  their  arrival  at  Cape  Town,  in  May,  Mrs.  Living- 
stone's health  was  so  poor  that  although  she  had  hoped 
to  make  the  second  Zambesi  expedition  with  her  hus- 
band, she,  with  Oswell,  was  obliged  to  remain  with  her 
parents,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Moffat. 

Livingstone  had  brought  out  a  steam-launch  from 
England  named  the  Ma-Robert  (the  mother  of  Robert), 
the  name  by  which  his  wife  was  called  by  the  natives. 
In  this  he  sailed  up  one  branch  of  the  Zambesi  Delta. 
On  reaching  his  Makololo,  whom  he  had  left  behind 
when  he  went  to  England,  he  found  that  thirty  had 
died  of  small-pox,  while  six  had  been  murdered  by  the 
black  Portuguese.  They  welcomed  him  with  the  greatest 
enthusiasm.  The  people  had  told  them,  "  Your  English- 
man will  never  return ; "  but  "  We  trusted  you,"  said 
they,  "and  now  we  shall  sleep." 

The    Ma-Robert  did   not   prove  a    good   launch;   and 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  385 

the  government  sent  out  another  called  the  Pioneer, 
for  the  navigation  of  the  Zambesi  and  lower  Shire 
River. 

He  sailed  up  the  Shire  for  two  hundred  miles  to 
some  cataracts,  —  these  extend  seventy  miles, — which 
he  named  Murchison  in  honor  of  Sir  Roderick  Murchi- 
son ;  he  discovered  Lake  Shirwa,  a  salt  lake,  more  than 
sixty  miles  long,  in  the  midst  of  a  fine  country  sur- 
rounded by  mountains  eight  thousand  feet  high. 

Professor  Henry  Drummond  visited  Lake  Shirwa 
thirty  years  afterwards,  when  a  very  aged  female  chief 
came  to  see  him,  and  spoke  kindly  of  a  white  man  who 
came  to  her  village  long,  long  ago,  and  gave  her  a 
present  of  cloth.  This  must  have  been  David  Living- 
stone. Though  Shirwa  is  one  of  the  smaller  African 
lakes,  Professor  Drummond  says  it  is  probably  larger 
than  all  the  lakes  of  Great  Britain  put  together. 

On  Sept.  16,  1859,  Livingstone  discovered  Lake 
Nyassa.  "Instead  of  being  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
long,"  says  Professor  Drummond,  "  as  first  supposed, 
Lake  Nyassa  is  now  known  to  have  a  length  of  three 
hundred  and  fifty  miles,  and  a  breadth  varying  from 
sixteen  to  sixty  miles.  It  occupies  a  gigantic  trough  of 
granite  and  gneiss,  the  profoundly  deep  water  standing 
at  a  level  of  sixteen  hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  with 
the  mountains  rising  all  around  it,  and  sometimes  sheer 
above  it,  to  a  height  of  one,  two,  three,  and  four 
thousand  feet." 

On  this  lake  now  plies  the  little  steamer  Ilala,  so 
named  from  the  place  where  Livingstone  died.  She 
was  carried  thither  from  England  in  seven  hundred 
pieces,  and  bolted  together  on  the  shore.  "  The  bright 
spot  now  on  the  lake  is  the  Scotch  Livingstonia  Mission 


380  DAVID   LIVINGSTONE. 

at  Bandaw6,"  says  Professor  Drummond.  "  I  cherish 
no  more  sacred  memory  of  my  life  than  that  of  a  com- 
munion service  in  the  little  Bandawe  chapel,  when  the 
sacramental  cup  was  handed  to  me  by  the  bare  black 
arm  of  a  native  communicant,"  whose  life,  he  says,  tested 
afterwards  on  the  Tanganyika  plateau,  "  gave  him  per- 
haps a  better  right  to  be  there  than  any  of  us." 

In  this  lake  region  Livingstone  beheld,  though  not 
for  the  first  time,  the  horrors  of  the  slave-trade.  At 
the  village  of  the  chief  Mbame  they  met  a  slave  party 
on  its  way  to  Tete,  on  the  Zambesi.  The  men,  women, 
and  children  were  all  manacled.  "  The  black  drivers," 
says  Livingstone,  '"'armed  with  muskets,  and  bedecked 
with  various  articles  of  finery,  marched  jauntily  in  the 
front,  middle,  and  rear  of  the  line,  some  of  them  blow- 
ing exultant  notes  out  of  long  tin  horns." 

As  soon  as  they  saw  the  white  men,  they  fled  into  the 
forest,  knowing  that  the  English  Government  was  try- 
ing to  put  down  slavery.  The  poor  slaves,  especially 
the  women  and  children,  were  soon  freed.  "  It  was  more 
difficult  to  cut  the  men  adrift,  as  each  had  his  neck 
in  the  fork  of  a  stout  stick,  six  or  seven  feet  long,  and 
kept  in  by  an  iron  rod  which  was  riveted  at  both  ends 
across  the  throat.  With  a  saw,  one  by  one,  the  men 
were  sawed  out  into  freedom." 

Many  were  children  not  more  than  five  years  of  age. 
One  little  boy  said,  "  The  others  tied  and  starved  us ; 
you  cut  the  ropes  and  tell  us  to  eat.  What  sort  of  people 
are  you  ?     Where  did  you  come  from  ?  " 

"  Two  of  the  women  had  been  shot  the  day  before 
for  attempting  to  untie  the  thongs.  This,  the  rest  were 
told,  was  to  prevent  them  from  attempting  to  escape. 
One  woman  had  her  infant's  brains  knocked  out  because 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  387 

she  could  not  carry  her  load  and  it ;  and  a  man  was 
despatched  with  an  axe  because  he  had  broken  down 
with  fatigue." 

The  next  day  a  gang  of  fifty  slaves  was  freed.  The 
leader  was  the  negro  agent  of  one  of  the  principal 
merchants  of  Tete.  Sometimes  these  slaves  are  taken 
in  war;  but  generally  their  village  is  wantonly  attacked, 
and  those  who  cannot  be  enslaved  are  cruelly  killed. 
At  this  time  it  was  estimated  by  the  British  Consul  at 
Zanzibar  that  nineteen  thousand  slaves  annually  come 
from  the  Nyassa  country  through  the  custom-house  at 
Zanzibar,  exclusive  of  those  sent  to  Portuguese  slave- 
ports. 

At  one  of  the  hamlets  where  Mariano,  the  great 
Portuguese  slave-agent,  had  been,  "  Dead  bodies,"  says 
Livingstone,  "  floated  past  us  daily,  and  in  the  mornings 
the  paddles  had  to  be  cleared  of  corpses  caught  by  the 
floats  during  the  night.  .  .  .  The  corpses  we  saw  float- 
ing down  the  river  were  only  a  remnant  of  those  that 
had  perished,  whom  their  friends,  from  weakness,  could 
not  bury,  nor  the  overgorged  crocodiles  devour." 

Village  after  village  had  been  burned.  "  Tingane  had 
been  defeated  ;  his  people  had  been  killed,  kidnapped, 
and  forced  to  flee  from  their  villages.  There  were  a  few 
wretched  survivors  in  a  village  above  the  Ruo,  but  the 
majority  of  the  population  was  dead.  The  sight  and 
smell  of  dead  bodies  was  everywhere.  Many  skeletons 
lay  beside  the  path,  where  in  their  weakness  they  had 
fallen  and  expired.  Ghastly  living  forms  of  boys  and 
girls,  with  dull  dead  eyes,  were  crouching  beside  some  of 
the  huts.  .  .  . 

"  Many  had  ended  their  misery  under  shady  trees, 
others  under  projecting  crags  in  the  hills,  while  others 


888  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

lay  in  their  huts  with  closed  doors,  which,  when  opened, 
disclosed  the  mouldering  corpse  with  the  poor  rags 
round  the  loins,  the  skull  fallen  off  the  pillow,  the  little 
skeleton  of  the  child  that  had  perished  first  rolled  up 
in  a  mat  between  two  large  skeletons." 

Sometimes  these  slave-traders,  both  Arab  and  half- 
caste  Portuguese,  told  the  Africans,  to  win  their  confi- 
dence at  first  before  seizing  them,  that  they  were  "  the 
children  "  of  Livingstone,  and  sometimes  the  mission- 
ary came  near  losing  his  life  on  account  of  the  hostility 
thus  engendered. 

On  May  15,  1860,  Livingstone  started  westward  with 
his  Makololo,  to  take  them  back  to  their  own  country. 
When  they  reached  it,  he  found  their  chief,  Sekele- 
tu,  slowly  failing  from  leprosy.  He  did  all  for  him 
that  was  possible ;  but  his  health  could  not  be  restored, 
and  he  died  in  18G4.  A  civil  war  resulted,  and  the 
Makololo  were  driven  from  their  homes.  Livingstone 
returned  to  Tete  Nov.  21,  having  been  absent  six 
months. 

After  farther  explorations,  on  Jan.  30,  1862,  her 
Majesty's  ship  Gorgon  arrived  from  Europe,  bringing 
the  steamer  Lady  Nyassa,  for  which  Livingstone  had 
asked  so  earnestly  and  waited  so  long.  He  wanted  her 
on  Lake  Nyassa,  as  a  preventive  of  the  slave-trade,  to 
aid  in  mission  work,  and  to  help  open  up  trade. 

He  wrote  to  Sir  Roderick  Murchison  :  "  If  govern- 
ment furnishes  the  means,  all  right;  if  not,  I  shall 
spend  my  book-money  on  it.  I  don't  need  to  touch  the 
children's  fund,  and  mine  could  not  be  better  spent. 
People  who  are  born  rich  sometimes  become  miserable 
from  a  fear  of  becoming  poor ;  but  I  have  the  advan- 
tage, you  see,  in  not  being  afraid  to  die  poor.     If  I  live, 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  389 

I  must  succeed  in  what  I  have  undertaken ;  death  alone 
will  put  a  stop  to  my  efforts." 

The  government  did  not  pay  for  the  steamer,  and  she 
cost  Livingstone  about  six  thousand  pounds,  the  greater 
part  of  his  book  profits. 

Mrs.  Livingstone  was  also  on  the  Gorgon.  She  had 
gone  back  to  Scotland  after  the  birth  of  her  last  child, 
Anna  Mary,  Nov.  16,  1858,  at  her  father's  home  in 
Kuruman.  Evidently  she  could  not  breast  the  fatigues 
of  African  exploration,  but  she  would  make  one  more 
trial. 

When  the  ship  n eared  the  coast,  and  Dr.  James  Stew- 
art of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  saw  Livingstone  in 
the  distance,  he  said  to  Mrs.  Livingstone,  "  There  he  is 
at  last."  "  She  looked  brighter  at  this  announcement," 
he  says,  "  than  I  had  seen  her  do  any  day  for  seven 
months  before." 

The  meeting  was  not  for  long.  "  Malarial  fever,"  says 
Professor  Drammond,  "is  the  one  sad  certainty  which 
every  African  traveller  must  face.  For  months  he  may 
escape;  but  its  finger  is  upon  him,  and  well  for  him  if  he 
has  a  friend  near  when  it  finally  overtakes  him.  .  .  .  He 
rises,  if  he  does  rise,  a  shadow,  and  slowly  accumulates 
strength  for  the  next  attack,  which  he  knows  too  well 
will  not  disappoint  him.  .  .  .  The  malaria  spares  no 
man  :  the  strong  fall  as  the  weak.  No  kind  of  care  can  do 
more  than  make  the  attacks  less  frequent.  No  prediction 
can  be  made  beforehand  as  to  which  regions  are  haunted 
by  it  and  which  are  safe." 

The  dread  enemy  came  to  Mrs.  Livingstone  on 
April  21 ;  on  the  25th  she  became  delirious  with  the 
fever ;  at  sunset  on  Sunday,  the  27th,  she  died  at  Shu- 
panga,  on  the  Zambesi.     Dr.  Stewart  says  of  that  last 


390  DAVID   LIVINGSTONE. 

sad  scene,  "  Livingstone  was  sitting  by  the  side  of  a  rude 
bed  formed  of  boxes,  but  covered  with  a  soft  mattress, 
on  which  lay  his  dying  wife.  All  consciousness  had 
now  departed,  as  she  was  in  a  state  of  deep  coma,  from 
which  all  efforts  to  rouse  her  had  been  unavailing.  .  .  . 
The  man  who  had  faced  so  many  deaths,  and  braved  so 
many  dangers,  was  now  utterly  broken  down,  and  weep- 
ing like  a  child." 

A  coffin  was  made  during  the  night,  and  a  grave  was 
dug  next  day  under  a  baobab-tree  sixty  feet  in  cir- 
cumference. "  The  men  asked  to  be  allowed  to  mount 
guard,"  says  her  husband,  "  till  we  had  got  the  grave 
built  up,  and  we  had  it  built  with  bricks  dug  from  an 
old  house."  A  temporary  paling  and  wooden  cross  were 
placed  at  the  grave ;  and  these  were  subsequently  re- 
placed by  a  stone  cross  and  slab,  with  an  iron  railing. 

Livingstone  wrote  in  his  journal:  "It  is  the  first 
heavy  stroke  I  have  suffered,  and  quite  takes  away  my 
strength.  I  wept  over  her  who  well  deserved  many 
tears.  .  .  .  God  pity  the  poor  children,  who  were  all 
tenderly  attached  to  her,  and  I  am  left  alone  in  the 
world  by  one  whom  I  felt  to  be  a  part  of  myself.  .  .  . 
Oh,  my  Mary,  my  Mary !  how  often  we  have  longed  for 
a  quiet  home,  since  you  and  I  were  cast  adrift  at  Kolo- 
beng !  .  .  .  The  prayer  was  found  in  her  papers  — 
'Accept  me,  Lord,  as  I  am,  and  make  me  such  as  Thou 
wouldst  have  me  to  be.' " 

He  wrote  later,  May  11,  Kongone  :  "  My  dear,  dear 
Mary  has  been  this  evening  a  fortnight  in  heaven  —  ab- 
sent from  the  body,  present  with  the  Lord.  'To-day 
shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise.'  .  .  .  For  the  first 
time  in  my  life  I  feel  willing  to  die." 

Mrs.  Livingstone  had  a  strong  presentiment  of  death 


DAVID   LIVINGSTONE.  391 

being  near.  She  felt  that  she  should  never  have  a  house 
in  Africa. 

May  31,  he  writes  in  his  journal:  "The  loss  of  my 
ever  dear  Mary  lies  like  a  heavy  weight  on  my  heart. 
In  our  intercourse  in  private  there  was  more  than  what 
would  be  thought  by  some  a  decorous  amount  of  merri- 
ment and  play.  I  said  to  her  a  few  days  before  her 
fatal  illness,  '  We  old  bodies  ought  now  to  be  more 
sober,  and  not  play  so  much.'  —  'Oh,  no,'  said  she,  "'you 
must  always  be  as  playful  as  you  have  always  been ;  I 
would  not  like  you  to  be  as  grave  as  some  folks  I  have 
seen.' " 

To  his  daughter  Agnes  he  Avrote :  "I  feel  alone  in 
the  world  now,  and  what  will  the  poor  dear  baby  do 
without  her  mamma  ?  She  often  spoke  of  her,  and 
sometimes  burst  into  a  flood  of  tears,  just  as  I  now  do 
in  taking  up  and  arranging  the  things  left  by  my  beloved 
partner  of  eighteen  years." 

To  Sir  Roderick  Murchison  he  wrote  concerning  his 
wife,  who,  beside  the  care  of  her  family,  had  taught  so 
successfully  an  infant  and  sewing  school :  "  It  was  a 
fine  sight  to  see  her  day  by  day  walking  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  to  the  town,  no  matter  how  broiling  hot  the  sun,  to 
impart  instruction  to  the  Bakwains..  Ma-Robert's  name 
was  known  through  all  the  country  and  eighteen  hun- 
dred miles  beyond.     A  brave,  good  woman  was  she." 

hater  he  wrote  to  Sir  Roderick  concerning  the  Zam- 
besi as  the  great  highway  to  hake  Nyassa :  "It  may 
seem  to  some  persons  weak  to  feel  a  chord  vibrating  to 
the  dust  of  her  who  rests  on  the  banks  of  the  Zambesi, 
and  to  think  that  the  path  by  that  river  is  consecrated 
by  her  remains." 

To  Sir  Thomas  Maclear  he  wrote:     "I  suppose  that 


392  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

I  shall  die  in  these  uplands,  and  somebody  will  carry 
out  the  plan  I  have  longed  to  put  into  practice.  ...  I 
work  with  as  much  vigor  as  I  can,  and  mean  to  do  so 
till  the  change  comes ;  but  the  prospect  of  a  home  is  all 
dispelled." 

April  27,  1863,  his  journal  reads :  "  On  this  day 
twelvemonths  my  beloved  Mary  Moffat  was  removed 
from  me  by  death." 

And  then  he  quotes  a  verse  from  Tennyson's  "  May 
Queen,"  beginning,  — 

"  If  I  can,  I'll  come  again,  mother,  from  out  my  resting-place." 

Livingstone  was  a  great  lover  of  the  poets,  and  was 
familiar  with  those  of  America  as  well  as  Europe.  Many 
poems  of  Longfellow  and  Wliittier  he  knew  by  heart. 
Several  poems  were  fastened  inside  the  boards  of  his 
journals. 

The  explorations  now  went  on  for  some  months,  till 
the  English  government,  in  view  of  the  deaths  of  many 
missionaries  who  had  come  out,  and  the  expense  attend- 
ing the  expedition,  recalled  it. 

This  was  a  sore  trial  to  Livingstone,  but  he  acquiesced, 
sending  the  Pioneer  and  her  seamen  home.  He  could 
have  sold  the  Lady  Nyassa  to  the  Portuguese ;  but  to 
this  he  would  never  consent,  as  he  knew  she  would  be 
used  in  the  slave-trade.  He  therefore  took  her  to 
Bombay,  India,  twenty-five  hundred  miles  away,  across 
the  Indian  Ocean.  He  was  captain  and  pilot,  the  same 
self-dependent,  fearless  traveller  that  he  had  been  in  the 
wilds  of  Africa.  He  was  forty-five  days  at  sea  ;  during 
twenty-five  of  these  his  ship  was  becalmed.  He  could 
not   sell  her   at  once,  but  did  so  later,  receiving  only 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  393 

twenty-three  hundred  pounds  for  that  which  had  cost 
him  six  thousand  pounds.  This  money  he  deposited  in 
an  Indian  bank  which  failed,  so  that  he  lost  the  whole 
of  it.  He  simply  remarked,  "  The  whole  of  the  money 
.  she  cost  was  dedicated  to  the  great  cause  for  which  she 
was  built  —  we  are  not  responsible  for  results." 

From  India  he  sailed  to  England,  arriving  at  Charing 
Cross  Station,  July  23, 1864.  As  before,  he  was  cordially 
welcomed.  He  attended  receptions  at  Lady  Palmer- 
ston's  and  the  Duchess  of  Wellington's,  and  lunched 
with  Baroness  Burdett  Coutts  and  Lady  Franklin,  though 
he  had  little  love  for  general  society.  He  hastened  to 
see  his  mother  and  children  at  Hamilton,  planted  trees 
while  on  a  visit  to  the  Duke  of  Argyle,  and  then  with 
his  daughter  Agnes  went  to  Newstead  Abbey,  Notting- 
hamshire, where  at  the  residence  of  his  friend,  Mr. 
William  F.  Webb,  formerly  the  home  of  Lord  Byron, 
he  wrote  his  second  work,  "  The  Zambesi  and  its  Tribu- 
taries." Here  he  remained  for  eight  months,  writing 
his  book  in  the  Sussex  Tower,  working  sometimes  till 
two  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

While  at  the  Abbey,  in  June,  he  received  the  news  of 
his  mother's  death,  and  hastened  to  the  funeral.  He 
records  in  his  journal :  "  Seeing  the  end  was  near,  sis- 
ter Agnes  said,  '  The  Saviour  has  come  for  you,  mother ; 
you  can  "  lippen  "  yourself  to  Him  ! '  She  replied,  '  Oh, 
yes.'  Little  Anna  Mary  was  held  up  to  her.  She  gave 
her  the  last  look,  and  said,  'Bonnie  wee  lassie,'  gave  a 
few  long  inspirations,  and  all  was  still.  .  .  .  When 
going  away  in  1858,  she  said  to  me  that  she  would  have 
liked  one  of  her  laddies  to  lay  her  head  in  the  grave. 
It  so  happened  that  I  was  there  to  pay  the  last  tribute 
to  a  dear  £ood  mother." 


394  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

His  last  act  in  Scotland  was  to  attend  an  examination 
of  his  son  Oswell's  school,  where  prizes  were  given.  In 
making  his  address,  he  closed  it  with  these  words, — 
his  last  public  words  in  Scotland,  —  "Fear  God,  and 

WORK  HARD." 

Livingstone  started  on  his  third  and  last  journey  to 
Africa,  Aug.  19,  1865.  The  government  and  Geo- 
graphical Society  each  furnished  him  five  hundred 
pounds,  and  a  friend,  Mr.  James  Young  of  Glasgow, 
one  thousand  pounds.  He  was  continued  as  consul, 
but  without  salary.  He  reached  Zanzibar  in  January, 
1866,  and  began  his  journey  with  thirteen  sepoys,  ten 
Johanna  men,  nine  Nassick  boys,  two  Shupanga,  —  one  of 
these  was  Susi,  —  and  two  Waiyau  men,  of  whom  one  was 
Chuma.  The  latter  was  originally  a  slave,  whom  Living- 
stone had  freed  in  the  Shire  Highlands.  They  had  six 
camels,  three  Indian  buffaloes  and  a  calf,  two  mules, 
four  donkeys,  and  a  poodle  dog  named  Chitane. 

The  sepoys  were  almost  useless,  beat  the  poor  camels 
with  sticks,  overloaded  and  neglected  to  feed  them,  so 
that  in  a  month  two  camels  and  one  buffalo  were  dead, 
one  camel  a  skeleton  from  bad  sores  made  from  their 
sticks,  one  buffalo  exhausted,  and  one  mule  very  ill. 
Though  repeatedly  reproved  by  Livingstone,  they  com- 
mitted their  brutalities  when  he  was  not  in  sight.  They 
killed  the  last  young  buffalo  calf  and  ate  it,  telling 
Livingstone  that  they  saw  a  tiger  carry  it  away  and 
devour  it  before  their  eyes.  Livingstone  asked  if  they 
saw  the  stripes,  and  they  all  declared  that  they  did. 
This  of  course  proved  their  falsehood,  as  there  are  no 
tigers  in  Africa.  Finally  in  July  he  sent  them  back  to 
the  coast.     . 

In  September  the  Johanna  men  deserted,  and  returned 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  895 

to  Zanzibar.  They  reported  that  Livingstone  was  dead, 
which  was  disproved  by  a  search  expedition  sent  out 
from  England,  under  Mr.  Edward  Young,  in  May,  1867. 

The  little  poodle  Chitane  was  drowned  in  swimming 
across  the  Chirnbwe  Eiver,  a  mile  wide,  between  Lakes 
Nyassa  and  Tanganyika.  "  He  had  more  spunk  in  him," 
said  Livingstone,  "than  a  hundred  country  dogs,  took 
charge  of  the  whole  line  of  march,  ran  to  see  the  first 
man  in  the  line,  and  then  back  to  the  last,  and  barked 
to  haul  him  up  ;  and  then,  when  he  knew  what  hut  I 
occupied,  would  not  let  a  country  cur  come  in  sight  of 
it,  and  never  stole  himself." 

From  "  Livingstone's  Last  Journals,"  compiled  after  his 
death,  we  learn  of  those  last  tiresome  but  fruitful  jour- 
neys. They  marched  along  the  banks  of  the  Itovuma 
River  to  Lake  Nyassa,  reaching  it  Aug.  8.  He  found, 
of  the  tribes  along  their  route,  that  the  Makonde  know 
nothing  of  a  Deity,  but  pray  to  their  mothers  when  in 
distress  or  dying.  The  head  man  of  the  Manganjas 
confided  to  Livingstone  his  afflictions,  as  did  many  of 
the  people.  A  wife  had  run  away.  The  traveller  asked 
him  how  many  he  had.  When  he  said  twenty  in  all, 
Livingstone  told  him  he  thought  he  had  nineteen  too 
many.  "But  who  would  cook  for  strangers,  if  I  had 
but  one  ?  "  he  naively  asked. 

The  chief  Mponda  wished  to  go  away  with  Living- 
stone, and  did  not  care  if  he  were  absent  for  ten  years. 

Many  of  the  people  were  tattooed,  and  had  large  slits 
in  the  lobes  of  the  ear.  Their  teeth  were  sharpened  to  a 
point,  and  some  of  them  had  the  two  front  teeth  knocked 
out. 

The  Livingstone  party  reached  the  river  Loangwa 
Dec.  16.     About  this  time  they  suffered  much  from  the 


396  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

lack  of  food.  He  says  in  his  journal :  "  Simon  gave  me 
a  little  of  his  meal  and  went  without  himself.  I  took 
my  belt  up  three  holes  to  relieve  hunger." 

Often  they  waded  through  rivers  and  marshes  up  to 
the  thigh.  Jan.  12  he  writes :  "  Sitting  down  this 
morning  near  a  tree,  my  head  was  just  one  yard  off  a 
good-sized  cobra,  coiled  up  in  the  sprouts  of  its  roots ; 
but  it  was  benumbed  with  cold.  A  very  pretty  little 
puff  adder  lay  in  the  path  also  benumbed." 

Jan.  20  two  Waiyaus  deserted,  one  of  them  taking  off 
Livingstone's  invaluable  medicine-chest.  A  boy,  Baroha, 
had  been  carrying  it  most  carefully,  and  he  and  the 
Waiyau  had  exchanged  loads  for  a  short  time.  "  I  felt 
as  if  I  had  now  received  the  sentence  of  death,"  Living- 
stone wrote  in  his  journal.  ...  "  It  is  difficult  to  say 
from  the  heart,  'Thy  will  be  done;'  but  I  shall  try." 
Yet,  as  ever,  he  has  an  excuse  for  the  poor  creatures. 
He  adds:  "These  Waiyau  had  few  advantages.  Sold 
into  slavery  in  early  life,  they  were  in  the  worst  possible 
school  for  learning  to  be  honest  and  honorable ;  they  be- 
haved well  for  a  long  time ;  but  having  had  hard  and 
scanty  fare  in  Lobisa,  wet  and  misery  in  passing  through 
dripping  forests,  hungry  nights,  and  fatiguing  days,  their 
patience  must  have  been  worn  out.  .  .  .  Yet  the  loss  of 
this  medicine-box  gnaws  at  the  heart  terribly." 

Livingstone  had  the  greatest  possible  tact  with  all  the 
chiefs,  always  talking  to  them  against  slavery  and  war, 
and  opening  their  minds  as  far  as  possible  to  good  things. 
One  chief,  Moamba,  said,  "  What  do  you  wish  to  buy,  if 
not  slaves  or  ivory  ?  " 

"  I  replied,"  says  Livingstone,  "  that  the  only  thing  I 
had  seen  worth  buying  was  a  fine  fat  chief  like  him,  as 
a  specimen." 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  397 

He  and  many  of  the  others  drank  a  kind  of  beer  made 
from  the  grain  of  millet.  To  some  this  beer  is  almost 
food;  but  the  result  is  they  have  poor  constitutions,  and 
easily  succumb  to  a  slight  illness. 

On  April  1,  18G7,  Livingstone  reached  Lake  Tangan- 
yika, over  thirty  miles  broad  and  about  four  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  in  length.  "  After  being  a  fortnight  at 
this  lake,"  says  Livingstone,  "  it  still  appears  one  of 
surpassing  loveliness.  .  .  .  It  lies  in  a  deep  basin  whose 
sides  are  nearly  perpendicular,  but  covered  well  with 
trees  ;  the  rocks  which  appear  are  bright  red  argillaceous 
schist ;  the  trees  at  present  all  green  ;  down  some  of 
these  rocks  come  beautiful  cascades,  and  buffaloes,  ele- 
phants, and  antelopes  wander  and  graze  on  the  more  level 
spots,  while  lions  roar  by  night." 

Here  Livingstone  had  several  fits  of  insensibility  from 
fever,  and  had  no  medicine  with  which  to  cure  himself. 

He  discovered  Lake  Moero,  sixty  miles  long,  on  Nov. 
8,  1867.  He  met  with  a  grand  reception  from  Casembe, 
a  chief  who  cut  off  his  peoples'  hands  and  ears  for  vari- 
ous offences.  His  principal  wife,  with  light-brown 
complexion,  was  carried  about  in  a  sort  of  palanquin,  by 
a  dozen  men,  while  a  number  of  men  ran  before  her, 
brandishing  swords  and  battle-axes,  one  man  beating  a 
hollow  instrument  to  warn  people  to  clear  the  way  for 
the  queen.  A  bride  or  a  chief  is  often  carried  on  a  man's 
shoulders. 

In  Casembe's  country  if  a  child  cuts  the  upper  front 
teeth  before  the  lower,  it  is  killed,  as  unlucky.  If  a  child 
is  seen  to  turn  from  one  side  to  the  other  in  sleep,  it  is 
killed.  If  Casembe  dreams  of  any  man  twice  or  three 
times,  he  puts  him  to  death,  lest  the  man  may  practise 
some  secret  art  against  the  chief's  life. 


398  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

Many  of  the  tribes  asked  for  "  gun  medicine,"  so  that 
they  could  shoot  straight,  and  desired  to  "  drink  medi- 
cine," so  as  to  understand  how  to  learn  to  read. 

Jan.  1,  1868,  Livingstone  writes  in  his  journal  :  "Al- 
mighty Father,  help  me  to  be  more  profitable  during 
this  year.     If  I  am  to  die  this  year,  prepare  me  for  it." 

Several  more  of  the  explorer's  men  deserted  him,  but 
he,  as  ever  before,  excused  them.  "I  did  not  blame 
them  very  severely  in  my  own  mind  for  absconding,"  lie 
said ;  "  they  were  tired  of  tramping,  and  so,  verily,  am  I." 

In  early  spring  he  saw  marigolds  in  full  bloom  all  over 
the  forests,  and  foxgloves  also.  In  June  he  came  to  a 
grave  in  the  forest,  a  little  rounded  mound,  as  if  the 
occupant  sat  in  it  in  the  usual  native  way.  It  had  flour 
and  large  blue  beads  strewn  over  it.  "  This  is  the  sort 
of  grave  I  should  prefer,"  Livingstone  wrote:  "to  lie  in 
the  still,  still  forest,  and  no  hand  ever  disturb  my  bones. 
The  graves  at  home  always  seem  to  me  to  be  miserable, 
especially  those  in  the  cold,  damp  clay,  and  without  el- 
bow room ;  but  I  have  nothing  to  do  but  wait  till  He 
who  is  over  all  decides  where  to  lay  me  down  and  die. 
Poor  Mary  lies  on  Shupanga  brae,  'and  beeks  foment 
the  sun.'  " 

July  18, 1868,  Livingstone  discovered  Lake  Bangweolo, 
one  of  the  largest  lakes  of  Central  Africa.  He  sailed 
upon  it  in  a  canoe  forty-five  feet  long  and  four  feet 
broad. 

When  the  New  Year  came  he  was  so  ill  that  he  had 
to  be  carried  in  a  litter  made  of  boughs.  He  reached 
the  great  Arab  settlement  at  Ujiji,  on  the  eastern  shore 
of  Lake  Tanganyika,  March  14,  1869,  only  to  find  that 
the  stores  which  he  had  ordered  sent  by  caravans  from 
Zanzibar  had  been  plundered  and  scattered  far  and  wide. 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  399 

Sixty-two  out  of  eighty  pieces  of  cloth,  each  piece  con- 
taining twenty- four  yards,  had  been  disposed  of.  The 
buffaloes  had  all  died  on  the  way.  Here  he  wrote  some 
letters,  and  sent  them  by  the  Arabs  to  the  coast,  but 
they  were  never  delivered. 

All  through  these  last  journeys  he  had  been  saddened 
by  the  enormities  of  the  slave-traders.  "  Slavery  is  a 
great  evil  wherever  I  have  seen  it,"  he  writes  in  his 
journal.  "  A  poor  old  woman  and  child  are  among  the 
captives.  The  boy,  about  three  years  old,  seems  a  mother's 
pet ;  his  feet  are  sore  from  walking  in  the  sun.  He  was 
offered  for  two  fathoms  [four  yards  of  unbleached  calico], 
and  his  mother  for  one  fathom.  He  understoodit  all,  and 
cried  bitterly,  clinging  to  his  mother.  She  had,  of  course, 
no  power  to  help  him." 

Again  he  writes  :  "  We  passed  a  woman  tied  by  the 
neck  to  a  tree,  and  dead.  The  people  of  the  country 
explained  that  she  had  been  unable  to  keep  up  with  the 
other  slaves  in  a  gang,  and  her  master  had  determined 
that  she  should  nut  become  the  property  of  anyone  else 
if  she  recovered  after  resting  for  a  time."  Others  were 
lying  in  the  path,  shot  or  stabbed. 

"  One  of  our  men  wandered  and  found  a  number  of 
slaves  with  slave-sticks  on  [these  yokes  weigh  from  thirty 
to  forty  pounds],  abandoned  by  their  master  for  want  of 
food.  They  were  too  weak  to  be  able  to  speak,  or  say 
where  they  had  come  from ;  some  were  quite  young." 

The  slave-gangs  numbered  several  hundred  in  each. 
When  far  enough  from  their  own  country  so  as  not  to 
run  away,  the  slave-sticks  were  usually  removed.  Great 
numbers  of  the  slaves  died  from  sobbing  and  "  heart- 
breaking." They  would  talk  of  their  wives  and  children 
to  the  last,  and  sink  down   and   die   from   no   apparent 


400  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

disease.  The  slavers  would  express  surprise  that  people 
should  die  while  they  had  plenty  to  eat  and  no  work. 

"  Children  for  a  time  would  keep  up  with  wonderful 
endurance  ;  but  it  happened  sometimes  that  the  sound 
of  dancing  and  the  merry  tinkle  of  the  small  drums 
would  fall  on  their  ears,  in  passing  near  to  a  village ; 
then  the  memory  of  home  and  happy  days  proved  too 
much  for  them;  they  cried  and  sobbed,  the  'broken 
heart'  came  on,  and  the}'  rapidly  sank." 

Since  Livingstone's  death  the  Arab  slave-raids  have 
been  worse  than  ever.  Professor  Henry  Drummond, 
in  Scribner's  Magazine  for  June,  1889,  gives  some  de- 
tails of  this  dreadful  traffic.  Cardinal  Lavigerie,  Arch- 
bishop of  Algiers,  and  Roman  Catholic  Primate  of 
Africa,  estimates  that  two  millions  of  lives  are  de- 
stroyed yearly  in  Africa  through  the  horrors  of  the 
slave-trade. 

"The  men  who  appear  the  strongest,"  said  Cardinal 
Lavigerie,  in  an  address  delivered  in  London,  "  and 
whose  escape  is  to  be  feared,  have  their  hands  tied,  and 
sometimes  their  feet,  in  such  fashion  that  walking  be- 
comes a  torture  to  them  ;  and  on  their  necks  are  placed 
yokes  which  attach  several  of  them  together.  They  march 
all  day ;  at  night,  when  they  stop  to  rest,  a  few  handful s 
of  raw  '  sorgho  '  are  distributed  among  the  captives.  This 
is  all  their  food.  Next  morning  they  must  start 
again.  .  .  . 

"  The  women  and  the  aged  are  the  first  to  halt.  Then, 
in  order  to  strike  terror  into  this  miserable  mass  of 
human  beings,  their  conductors,  armed  with  a  wooden 
bar  to  economize  powder,  approach  those  who  appear  to 
be  the  most  exhausted,  and  deal  them  a  terrible  blow  on 
the  nape  of  the  neck.     The    unfortunate  victims  utter 


DAVID   LIVINGSTONE.  401 

a  cry,  and  fall  to  the  ground  in  the  convulsions  of 
death.  .  .  . 

"  If,  goaded  by  their  cruel  sufferings,  some  attempt  to 
rebel  or  escape,  their  fierce  masters  cut  them  down  with 
their  swords,  and  leave  them  as  they  lie  along  the  road, 
attached  to  one  another  by  their  yokes.  Therefore  it 
has  been  truly  said  that,  if  a  traveller  lost  the  way  lead- 
ing from  Equatorial  Africa  to  the  towns  where  slaves 
are  sold,  he  could  easily  find  it  again  by  the  skeletons  of 
the  negroes  with  which  it  is  strewed." 

Professor  Drummond  quotes  from  Stanley  in  his  book 
on  the  Congo.  The  latter  tells  of  118  villages  with 
probably  1,000  persons  in  each,  and  43  tribal  districts 
devastated  by  fire  and  sword,  that  2,300  women  and 
children  might  be  captured  by  these  Arab  slave- 
dealers. 

"  If  each  expedition  has  been  as  successful  as  this,  the 
slave-traders  have  been  enabled  to  obtain  5,000  women 
and  children  safe  to  Nyangwe,  Kirundu,  and  Vibondo, 
above  the  Stanley  Falls.  This  5,000  out  of  an  annual 
million  will  be  at  the  rate  of  a  half  per  cent,  or  5  slaves 
out  of  1,000  people.  This  is  poor  profit  out  of  such 
large  waste  of  life." 

This  Scribner  article  by  Professor  Drummond,  and  a 
map  of  Central  Africa  showing  what  is  possible  for  the 
suppression  of  the  slave-trade,  may  be  obtained  free  by 
addressing  Mr.  C.  P.  Huntington,  23  Broad  Street,  New 
York  City,  who  has  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the  subject. 

The  present  condition  of  the  slave-trade  and  the  suc- 
cess attending  the  efforts  of  several  nations  to  suppress 
it,  are  shown  in  a  valuable  article  by  Stanley  in  Harper's 
Magazine  for  March,  1893,  on  "  Slavery  and  the  Slave- 
trade    in    Africa."     The    founding   of   the    Con^o    Free 


402  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE 

State,  with  its  military  stations  and  trade,  has  been  a 
wonderful  check  to  the  awful  traffic.  Missions  have 
been  another  powerful  factor.  The  Congo  Railway,  now 
building,  with  the  steamers  now  plying  on  the  large 
lakes,  will  form  a  police  cordon,  through  which  the  Arab 
slave-traders  will  find  it  difficult  to  pass. 

Stanley  urges  stringent  measures,  and  commends  the 
German  government  for  what  it  has  clone  on  the  east 
coast  of  Africa.  "No  caravan  is  permitted  to  leave 
without  search ;  gunpowder  and  arms  are  confiscated ; 
slave-traders  are  tried  and  hanged  after  conviction  (the 
chief  judge  on  the  German  coast  lately  sentenced  sev- 
enteen Arabs  to  be  hanged  at  Linde).  The  trading- 
depots  of  the  African  Lakes'  Company  are  pre-eminently 
successful  in  subserving  the  anti-slavery  cause  by  sup- 
pressing the  odious  trade  in  slaves." 

Still  the  traffic  goes  on  in  all  its  horrors  in  many 
portions  of  Africa  ;  in  the  interior,  and  in  some  of  the 
northen  parts  as  well.  "  The  importation  of  negroes 
from  the  Nigritien  basin  and  South-western  Soudan  into 
the  public  slave  markets  of  Morocco,"  says  Stanley, 
"will  continue  until  for  very  shame  it  will  irritate 
Europe  into  taking  more  decided  steps  in  the  name  of 
humanity  to  force  the  ever-maundering  authorities  to 
decre  the  abolition  of  the  slave-trade." 

Commerce  and  civilization  must  go  hand  in  hand. 
Railways  must  be  built,  telegraphic  lines  established, 
and  the  nations  of  the  world  must  unite  to  protect  the 
African  from  the  greed  aiid  the  cruelty  of  the  slave- 
market. 

Livingstone  left  Ujiji,  July  12,  improved  in  health,  to 
start  northward  into  the  Manyuema  country  to  ascertain, 
if  possible,  whether  the  Lualaba  Liver  is  the  western 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  403 

branch  of  the  Nile  or  the  eastern  of  the  Ccngo.  He  did 
not  live  to  ascertain  that  it  is,  indeed,  the  Congo. 

He  reached  the  banks  of  the  river  at  Nyangwe,  March  29, 
1871,  more  than  a  year  after  he  started.  He  read  the  Bible 
through  four  times  while  in  the  Manyuema  country,  the 
land  of  cannibals.  On  his  journey  back  to  Ujiji,  begun 
July  20,  1871,  he  several  times  narrowly  escaped  death, 
as  many  Arabs  were  with  him,  and  they  were  so  hated  by 
the  natives.  Great  trees  were  chopped  down  just  as  he 
passed,  and  sometimes  the  spears  just  missed  him  ;  one 
grazed  his  neck,  flung  by  a  man  ten  yards  off.  During 
the  last  of  the  journey,  "  I  felt  as  if  dying  on  my  feet," 
he  wrote.  He  reached  Ujiji,  Oct.  23,  1871,  a  living 
skeleton.  To  his  amazement  and  despair,  a  leading 
Arab,  professing  to  believe  Livingstone  dead,  had  sold 
all  his  remaining  goods.  He  had  not  a  single  yard  of 
cloth  left  out  of  his  three  thousand,  nor  a  string  of  beads 
out  of  seven  hundred  pounds.  Sick  in  body  and  really 
sick  at  heart,  he  had  now  to  wait  to  see  what  the 
future  might  have  in  store. 

Five  days  later,  Oct.  28,  Susi  came  running  toward 
his  master  exclaiming  excitedly,  "  An  Englishman  !  I 
see  him  !  "  Livingstone  looked  out  and  beheld  a  cara- 
van with  the  American  flag  at  the  head. 

"Bales  of  goods,  baths  of  tin,  huge  kettles,  cooking- 
pots,  tents,  etc.,  made  me  think,"  he  says,  "  this  must 
be  a  luxurious  traveller,  and  not  at  his  wits'  end  like  me." 

The  leader  of  the  caravan,  who  had  come  just  at  the 
opportune  moment,  was  Henry  M.  Stanley,  sent  thither 
at  an  expense  of  over  four  thousand  pounds  by  James 
Gordon  Bennett  of  the  New  York  Herald,  "  to  find  Liv- 
ingstone, dead  or  alive." 

For   eleven    long   months   the    young  journalist   had 


404  DAVID   LIVINGSTONE. 

faced  disease  and  hostile  tribes  in  the  heart  of  an  un- 
known country  to  find  the  great  teacher,  from  whom 
nothing  had  been  heard  for  three  years.  Once  he  was 
well-nigh  discouraged;  but  he  wrote  in  his  journal:  "No 
living  man  shall  stop  me — only  death  can  prevent  me. 
But  death  —  not  even  this  ;  I  shall  not  die —  I  will  not 
die  —  I  can  not  die  !  Something  tells  me  I  shall  find 
him  and —  write  it  larger  — find  him,  find  him.  Even 
the  words  are  inspiring." 

At  last  he  had  found  him,  and  the  two  men  stood  face 
to  face.  It  was  a  supreme  moment.  They  clasped 
hands  warmly.  "  I  thank  God,  Doctor,  I  have  been  per- 
mitted to  see  you,"  said  Stanley  with  a  full  heart. 

"  I  feel  grateful  that  I  am  here  to  welcome  you,"  was 
the  response  of  the  weary,  white-haired  man. 

For  four  happy  months  they  talked  and  explored  to- 
gether, and  each  grew  fond  of  the  other.  Stanley  says, 
"  I  had  gone  over  battle-fields,  witnessed  revolutions,  civil 
wars,  rebellions,  ententes,  and  massacres,  .  .  .  but  never 
had  I  been  called  to  record  anything  that  moved  me  so 
much  as  this  man's  woes  and  sufferings,  his  privations  and 
disappointments.  .  .  .  Livingstone  was  a  character  that 
I  venerated,  that  called  forth  all  my  enthusiasm,  that 
evoked  nothing  but  sincerest  admiration."  .  .  .  Again 
Stanley  says  :  "  Livingstone's  gentleness  never  forsakes 
him ;  his  hopefulness  never  deserts  him.  No  harassing 
anxieties,  distraction  of  mind,  long  separation  from 
home  and  kindred,  can  make  him  complain.  He  thinks 
'  all  will  come  out  right  at  last ;  '  he  has  such  faith  in  the 
goodness  of  Providence.  .  .  . 

"  From  being  hated  and  thwarted  in  every  possible 
way  by  the  Arabs  and  half-castes  upon  his  arrival  in 
Ujiji  [on  account  of  his  opposition  to  the   slave-trade] 


DAVID   LIVINGSTONE.  405 

he  has,  through  uniform  kindness  and  mild,  pleasant 
temper,  won  all  hearts.  I  observed  that  universal  re- 
spect was  paid  to  him.  Even  the  Mohammedans  never 
passed  his  house  without  calling  to  pay  their  compli- 
ments, and  to  say  '  The  blessing  of  God  rest  on  you.'  " 

Stanley  begged  Livingstone  to  go  back  with  him,  and 
he  would  "  carry  him  every  foot  of  the  way  to  the  coast." 

"  No,"  replied  the  latter  ;  "  I  should  like  to  see  my 
family*very  much  indeed.  My  children's  letters  affect 
me  intensely ;  but  I  must  not  go  home,  I  must  finish  my 
task." 

They  went  together  on  the  homeward  journey  as  far 
as  Unyanyembi,  —  Stanley  bearing  homeward  Living- 
stone's journals  in  waterproof  canvas,  sealed  with  five 
seals,  — and  then  the  farewells  were  said. 

"  Good-by,  Doctor,  dear  friend  !  " 

"  Good-by." 

"  Now,  my  men,  home  !     Lift  the  flag.     March  !  " 

Through  the  distance  Stanley  waved  his  handkerchief 
and  Livingstone  raised  his  cap.  He  never  looked  upon 
a  white  man's  face  again.  Six  months  afterwards 
Stanley  said,  "  My  eyes  feel  somewhat  dimmed  at  the 
recollection  of  the  parting." 

Livingstone  wrote  his  daughter  Agnes  concerning 
Stanley  :  "  He  laid  all  he  had  at  my  service,  divided 
his  clothes  into  two  heaps,  and  pressed  one  heap  upon 
me ;  then  his  medicine-chest ;  then  his  goods  and  every- 
thing he  had,  and,  to  coax  my  appetite,  often  cooked 
dainty  dishes  with  his  own  hands.  .  .  . 

"  He  came  with  the  true  American  characteristic  — 
generosity.  The  tears  often  started  into  my  eyes  on 
every  fresh  proof  of  kindness." 

Stanley  had  brought  him  letters  and  gifts  from  home. 


406  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

Nothing  pleased  Livingstone  more  than  four  woollen 
shirts  from  Agnes  —  now  Mrs.  Bruce  —  and  a  letter 
from  her  which  said,  "  Much  as  I  wish  you  to  come 
home,  I  had  rather  that  you  finished  your  work  to  your 
own  satisfaction  than  return  merely  to  gratify  me." 

Livingstone  says  in  his  journal:  "Rightly  and 
nohly  said,  my  darling  Nannie ;  vanity  whispers  pretty 
loudly,  '  She  is  a  chip  of  the  old  block.'  My  blessing  on 
her  and  all  the  rest." 

Livingstone  waited  at  Unyanyembe  till  Stanley  should 
send  back  suitable  porters  from  the  coast,  fifty-seven 
men  and  boys,  and  then  the  heroic  man  began  again 
his  toilsome  explorations  through  swamps  and  fever- 
laden  districts.  It  was  gratifying  that  his  government 
had  voted  him  one  thousand  pounds,  as  he  had  received 
no  salary  for  the  previous  six  years. 

Five  days  after  Stanley's  departure,  on  Livingstone's 
birthday,  March  19,  1872,  he  writes  in  his  journal : 
"Accept  me,  and  grant,  0  gracious  Father,  that  ere  this 
year  is  gone  I  may  finish  my  task." 

He  wished  to  find  the  true  sources  of  the  Nile,  and 
then  he  would  go  home.  Death  came  before  he  had 
settled  the  problem. 

On  Aug.  25,  1872,  Livingstone  started  on  his  last 
journey  westward.  He  had  written  to  his  old  college 
friend,  James  Young:  "I  rejoice  to  think  it  is  now 
your  portion,  after  working  nobly,  to  play.  May  you 
have  a  long  spell  of  it !  I  am  differently  situated.  I 
shall  never  be  able  to  play.  .  .  .  During  a  large  part  of 
this  journey  I  had  a  strong  presentiment  that  I  should 
never  live  to  finish  it.  .  .  .  This  presentiment  did  not 
interfere  with  the  performance  of  any  duty ;  it  only 
made  me  think  a  great  deal  more  of  the  future  state  of 
beint:." 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  407 

On  Oct.  14  they  reached  Lake  Tanganyika,  and  then 
struggled  on  toward  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake  Bang- 
weolo.  It  was  the  rainy  season,  and  they  forded  river 
after  river,  nearly  to  their  necks  in  water. 

Jan.  24,  1873,  he  writes  in  his  journal  :  "  Went  one 
hour  and  three-quarters'  journey  to  a  large  stream, 
through  drizzling  rain,  at  least  three  hundred  yards  of 
deep  water,  among  sedges  and  sponges  of  one  hundred 
yards.  One  part  was  neck-deep  for  fifty  yards,  and  the 
water  cold.  We  plunged  in  elephants'  foot-prints  one 
hour  and  a  half,  then  came  on  one  hour  to  a  small  riv- 
ulet ten  feet  broad,  but  waist-deep ;  bridge  covered  and 
broken  down. 

"  Carrying  me  across  one  of  the  broad,  deep,  sedgy 
rivers  is  really  a  very  difficult  task.  One  we  crossed 
was  at  least  two  thousand  feet  broad,  or  more  than  three 
hundred  yards.  The  first  part,  the  main  stream,  came 
up  to  Susi's  mouth,  and  wetted  my  seat  and  legs.  One 
held  up  my  pistol  behind,  then  one  after  another  took  a 
turn  ;  and  when  he  sank  into  an  elephant's  deep  foot- 
print, he  required  two  to  lift  him,  so  as  to  gain  a  footing 
on  a  level,  which  was  over  waist-deep.  Others  went  on 
and  bent  down  the  grass  to  insure  some  footing  on  the 
side  of  the  elephant's  path." 

No  wonder  he  wrote,  "  This  trip  has  made  my  hair 
all  gray."  It  was  evident  that  his  health  was  failing. 
He  writes,  March  19  :  "  Thanks  to  the  Almighty  Pre- 
server of  men  for  sparing  me  thus  far  on  the  journey  of 
life  !  Can  I  hope  for  ultimate  success  ?  So  many  obsta- 
cles have  arisen." 

"  March  24.  The  loads  are  all  soaked,  and  with  the 
cold  it  is  bitterly  uncomfortable." 

"March  25.     Nothing  earthly  will  make  me  give  up 


408  DAVID   LIVINGSTONE. 

my  work  in  despair.  I  encourage  myself  in  the  Lord 
my  God,  and  go  forward." 

"April  10.  I  am  pale,  bloodless,  and  weak.  .  .  .  Oh, 
how  I  long  to  be  permitted  by  the  Over  Power  to  finish 
my  work ! " 

"April  19.  I  am  excessively  weak,  and  but  for  the 
donkey  could  not  move  a  hundred  yards.  It  is  not  all 
pleasure,  this  exploration.  ...  I  can  scarcely  hold  a 
pencil,  and  my  stick  is  a  burden." 

"  April  21.  Tried  to  ride,  but  was  forced  to  lie  down, 
and  they  carried  me  back  to  vil  [village]  exhausted." 

His  faithful  followers,  seeing  that  he  was  daily  fail- 
ing, had  made  a  litter,  covered  it  with  grass,  laid  a 
blanket  upon  it,  and  carried  Livingstone  upon  their 
shoulders. 

There  were  no  entries  now  in  his  journals  except  the 
date.  Then  the  last  words  were  written  by  the  dying 
man  on  the  eleventh  anniversary  of  his  wife's  death, 
April  27,  1873:  "Knocked  up  quite,  and  remain  — 
recover —  Sent  to  buy  milch  goats.  We  are  on  the 
banks  of  the  Molilamo." 

As  best  they  could,  they  bore  him  forward  to  the 
village  of  the  chief  Chitambo,  where  they  built  him 
a  hut. 

On  April  30  Livingstone  asked  Susi  to  bring  him  his 
watch,  that  he,  the  servant,  might  hold  it,  while  the  key 
was  slowly  turned  by  the  enfeebled  hands.  At  11  p.  m. 
Susi  went  to  his  master's  bedside.  The  latter  said, 
in  Suaheli  language,  "  Siku-ngapi  kwenda  Luapula?" 
(How  many  days  is  it  to  the  Luapula  ?) 

Upon  being  told  that  it  Avas  about  three  days,  he  half 
sighed,  half  said,  "  Oh,  dear,  dear  ! " 

After    midnight    Susi    boiled    some  water    for    him, 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  409 

and  held  the  candle  near  him  while  he  selected  some 
calomel.  Then  Livingstone  said  in  a  low  voice,  "All 
right ;  you  can  go  now." 

At  four  o'clock,  before  light,  Susi  again  entered,  being 
called  by  the  boy  who  slept  just  inside  the  hut.  Living- 
stone was  kneeling  beside  his  bed,  his  head  buried  in 
his  hands  upon  the  pillow.  The  29,000  miles  of  travel 
in  Africa  were  ended ;  he  was  dead,  and  the  body  almost 
cold.  Susi  and  Chuma  with  Jacob  Wainwright,  who 
could  write,  decided  that  the  body  must  be  carried  to 
Zanzibar,  and  from  thence  to  England.  Then  they  pro- 
ceeded to  embalm  it  the  best  they  knew  how.  Remov- 
ing the  heart,  lungs,  etc.,  these  were  placed  in  a  tin  box 
and  reverently  buried  at  Ilala,  where  he  died.  Then 
the  body  was  exposed  to  the  sun  for  fourteen  days, 
wrapped  in  calico,  and  enclosed  in  the  bark  of  the 
Myonga  tree,  with  tarred  sail-cloth  sewed  over  the 
cylindrical  package. 

Then  the  homeward  journey  began,  the  precious  bur- 
den being  carried  on  their  shoulders.  Half  of  the  men 
became  ill,  and  some  of  the  tribes  were  hostile.  When 
they  reached  Unyanyembe,  Lieutenant  Cameron  wished 
to  have  the  body  buried  there,  rather  than  make  the 
perilous  journey  to  the  coast,  but  the  men  would  not 
for  a  moment  consent. 

At  one  village  opposition  was  shown  to  a  dead  body 
passing  through  it,  so  a  bale  of  sticks  was  prepared  like 
a  body,  and  the  people  were  given  to  understand  that 
they  Avould  bury  the  corpse.  Some  of  them  went  back 
with  the  pretended  body,  while  the  real  one  was  re- 
wrapped  like  a  bale  of  goods,  and  carried  forward  with- 
out suspicion. 

Through  nine  long  months  they  made  the  journey  of 


410  DAVID   LIVINGSTONE. 

more  than  a  thousand  miles  to  the  coast,  bearing  their 
beloved  dead.  "  The  story  stands  alone  in  history,"  says 
Thomas  Hughes. 

Through  the  generosity  of  Livingstone's  friend,  James 
Young,  Susi  and  Chuma,  two  out  of  seven  long-tried  and 
faithful  servants,  with  Jacob  Wainwright,  who  had  been 
sent  by  Stanley  from  Zanzibar,  were  brought  to  England 
on  the  steamer,  and  assisted  at  the  burial  of  their  great 
leader. 

On  Saturday,  April  18,  1874,  Livingstone  was  buried 
near  the  centre  of  the  nave  in  Westminster  Abbey.  The 
grand  old  abbey  was  crowded  in  every  part.  Among 
the  pall-bearers  were  Stanley  and  Jacob  Wainwright. 

A  black  slab  now  marks  the  resting-place  of  him 
whom  Mr.  Johnston  well  calls  "  The  greatest  and  best 
man  who  ever  explored  Africa."  On  the  slab  are  these 
words  :  — 

"  Brought  by  faithful  hands 

over  land  and  sea, 

here  rests 

David  Livingstone, 

missionary,  traveller,  philanthropist, 

born  March  19,  1813, 

at  Blantyre,  Lanarkshire. 

Died  May  4  [probably  May  1],  1873. 

At  Chitambo's  village,  llala. 

For  thirty  years  his  life  was  spent  in  an  unwearied 
effort  to  evangelize  the  native  races,  to  explore  the 
undiscovered  secrets,  and  abolish  the  desolating  slave- 
trade  of  Central  Africa,  where,  with  his  last  words, 
he  wrote :  — 

'  All  I  can  say  in  my  solitude  is,  may  Heaven's  rich 
blessing  come  down  on  every  one  —  American,  English, 
Turk  —  who  will  help  to  heal  this  open  sore  of  the 
world.'  " 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  411 

These  words  concerning  slavery  were  the  last  penned 
in  a  letter  which  the  missionary  explorer  wrote  to  the 
New  York  Herald,  after  Stanley  left  him.  The  nations 
are  now  trying  to  do  that  to  which  Livingstone's  life 
and  death  were  consecrated. 


MATTHEW  CALBRAITH   PERRY. 


TT  is  not  often  that  five  naval  officers  are  found  in  one 
J-  family,  and  two  of  these  so  famous  as  Matthew  Cal- 
braith  Perry,  who  opened  Japan  to  the  world,  and  Oliver 
Hazard  Perry,  the  hero  of  Lake  Erie,  in  the  war  of  1812. 

Matthew,  the  fourth  child  in  the  family  of  a  sturdy 
sea-captain,  Christopher  Raymond  Perry,  was  born  at 
Newport,  R.  I.,  April  10,  1794.  He  was  an  active, 
earnest  boy,  showing  in  early  life  the  energy  and  strength 
of  character  which  distinguished  him  in  his  manhood. 
Under  the  training  of  a  self-reliant  and  noble  mother, 
Matthew  learned  to  be  honest,  devoted  to  countiy,  and 
persevering  in  every  duty.  Though  gentle  in  her  man- 
ners, she  had  great  force  of  character,  teaching  her  chil- 
dren obedience  as  one  of  the  first  virtues,  and  exhibiting 
the  same  fearlessness  and  fortitude  before  them  which 
they  themselves  showed  in  after  life. 

Matthew  was  eager  to  enter  the  navy  when  a  lad  of 
twelve,  but  his  youth  prevented.  On  Jan.  18,  1809, 
he  became  a  midshipman,  and  soon  went  aboard  the 
schooner  Revenge,  commanded  by  his  brother  Oliver. 
She  was  attached  to  the  squadron  under  Commodore 
John  Rodgers,  which  guarded  our  coasts  from  the 
Chesapeake  to  Passamaquocldy  Bay,  to  prevent  Ameri- 
can sailors  from  being  pressed  into  British  service  by 
British  ships.  412 


MATTHEW  CALBRAITII  PERRY.  413 

On  Oct.  12,  1810,  the  lad  was  transferred  to  the 
frigate  President,  the  flag-ship  of  Commodore  Rodgers. 
The  Revenge  was  wrecked  off  Watch  Hill,  R.I.,  three 
months  later. 

On  the  President,  June  22,  young  Perry,  then  seven- 
teen, received  his  first  wound  in  the  first  naval  battle  of 
the  war  of  1812.  By  the  explosion  of  a  gun  the  leg  of 
Commodore  Rodgers  was  broken,  several  sailors  were 
killed,  and  others  wounded;  among  the  latter  was  young 
Perry. 

After  capturing  seven  British  merchant  vessels,  Com- 
modore Rodgers  was  obliged  to  return,  his  crew  being 
unfitted  for  duty  by  scurvy.  On  another  trip  Rodgers 
captured  twelve  British  vessels,  with  two  hundred  and 
seventy-one  prisoners.  Young  Perry  was  promoted  to 
an  acting  lieutenantcy  when  he  was  eighteen,  and  was 
soon  transferred  to  the  ship  United  States,  under  Com- 
modore Decatur. 

On  Christmas  eve,  1814,  the  youth  of  twenty  was 
married  to  Miss  Jane  Slidell,  then  only  seventeen  years 
of  age,  the  daughter  of  a  rich  New  York  merchant. 
Matthew  probably  seemed  much  older  than  he  really 
was,  from  the  experience  he  had  already  enjoyed  in 
travel  and  naval  warfare.  From  this  happy  union  came 
a  family  of  four  sous  and  six  daughters. 

Mr.  Slidell,  the  father-in-law  of  Perry,  offered  the  latter 
the  command  of  his  merchant-vessel  bound  for  Holland. 
Perry  obtained  a  furlough,  accepted  the  position,  and  re- 
mained in  the  commercial  marine  for  nearly  three  years, 
when  he  re-entered  the  navy. 

In  1819,  Perry,  in  the  ship  Cyane,  visited  the  Dark 
Continent  to  convoy  the  first  company  of  black  colonists 
to  Africa.     The  ship  captured  some  slavers,  and  helped 


414  MATTHEW  CALBRAITII  PERRY. 

the  negroes  in  settling  and  house-building.  Most  of 
the  colonists  and  crew  suffered  from  the  African  fever, 
and  the  colony  proved  a  failure.  Another  remedy  had 
to  be  found  for  the  cure  of  slavery  in  America  nearly 
a  half-century  later. 

After  another  voyage  to  Africa,  during  which  Perry 
gave  especial  study  to  that  dread  disease  scurvy,  finding 
that  it  resulted  largely  from  salt  diet,  lack  of  vegeta- 
bles, and  want  of  ventilation  and  cleanliness,  he  gave 
some  time  in  his  war-ship,  the  Shark,  in  helping  to  rid 
the  West  Indian  Archipelago  of  pirate  crafts.  He 
studied  Spanish  the  more  effectually  to  do  his  work, 
and  became  well  versed  in  the  standard  literature  in  that 
language. 

After  a  rest  of  some  months  with  his  family  in  New 
York,  Perry  joined  the  North  Carolina,  one  of  our  first 
line-of-battle  ships,  and  sailed  in  her  to  Malaga,  May  19, 
1825.  She  with  some  other  ships  was  commissioned 
to  protect  American  commerce  on  the  Mediterranean. 

Perry's  next  sea  voyage  was  to  Russia,  in  the  Concord. 
While  at  Cronstadt  the  Tsar  Nicholas  came  on  board, 
and  inspected  her  with  apparent  pleasure.  Perry  and  a 
few  other  officers  were  received  at  the  imperial  palace. 
The  Tsar  asked  many  questions  of  the  young  American 
officer,  who  answered  with  dignity  and  courtesy. 

Perry  visited  Copenhagen,  Cowes  in  the  Isle  of  Wight, 
Malta,  and  Alexandria.  On  the  trip  to  Alexandria  he 
had  Lady  Franklin  on  board.  She  "  was  full  of  her 
husband,"  says  the  chaplain ;  "  and,  of  course,  at  each 
meal,  the  whole  company  had  to  hear  theories  and  suc- 
cesses and  memories  repeated  on  the  one  theme." 

At  Alexandria  the  officers  were  invited  to  dine  with 
Mehemet,  the  Viceroy  of  Egypt,  who  presented  the 
party  with  thirteen  swords. 


MATTHEW  CALBRAITII  PERRY.  415 

Later  Perry  was  sent  to  Italy  in  command  of  the 
ship  Brandywine,  and  on  his  return,  at  his  own  request, 
was  given  the  command  of  the  recruiting  station  at  New 
York. 

Here,  for  ten  years,  he  enjoyed  his  family,  and  de- 
voted himself  to  the  welfare  of  the  navy.  He  organized 
the  Brooklyn  Naval  Lyceum,  "  to  promote  the  diffusion 
of  useful  knowledge,  to  foster  a  spirit  of  harmony  and  a 
community  of  interests  in  the  service,  and  to  cement  the 
links  which  unite  us  as  professional  brethren." 

A  library  was  begun,  pictures  were  given  by  wealthy 
patrons,  and  a  bi-monthly  magazine  was  started.  The 
Lyceum  is  still  doing  its  valuable  work.  Perry  was  al- 
ways an  advocate  of  reading  and  general  culture  for  his 
men.  On  ship-board  he  organized  classes.  He  urged  the 
sailors  to  give  up  liquor,  and  was  instrumental  in  ob- 
taining the  prohibition  of  the  spirit  ration  to  all  under 
twenty-one,  which  rule  was  passed  Aug.  29, 1842.  He 
also  helped  to  abolish  flogging  with  "the  cat-of-nine 
tails,"  on  the  bare  back. 

Perry  was  offered  the  command  of  the  United  States 
Exploring  Expedition  to  the  Antarctic  continent ;  but  as 
he  declined,  it  was  given  to  Lieutenant  Charles  Wilkes, 
whose  subsequent  publications  are  full  of  interest. 

Perry  took  the  deepest  interest  in  the  use  of  steam 
for  the  navy,  and  applied  for  the  command  of  the  Ful- 
ton, a  floating  battery  for  the  defence  of  New  York  har- 
bor, the  first  American  steamer  of  war.  He  took  her 
to  Washington,  and  President  Jackson  and  his  cabinet 
enjoyed  an  inspection  of  her. 

Perry  was  the  first  to  urge  a  training-school  for  naval 
engineers  provided  by  the  government.  This  was  real- 
ized later  at  Annapolis.     He  made   a  special   study   of 


416  MATTHEW  CALBRAITII   PERRY. 

naval  ordnance,  and  proposed  the  ram,  "using a  steamer 
as  a  striking  body." 

Perry  with  others  made  a  careful  study  of  the  water 
approaches  to  New  York.  He  went  to  Europe  to  study 
lighthouses,  visited  founderies  and  ship-yards,  and  met 
distinguished  scientists  and  rulers.  He  was  invited  by 
King  Louis  Philippe  to  an  informal  supper,  where  he 
met  the  royal  family,  the  Queen  pouring  the  tea. 

On  his  return  to  New  York,  Perry  purchased  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  near  Tarry  town,  on  the  Hudson, 
and  built  a  stone  cottage  which  he  called  "  The  Moor- 
ings." He  rose  early  to  care  for  his  land,  studied  and 
wrote  evenings,  and  became  the  close  friend  of  Wash- 
ington Irving,  his  neighbor. 

At  the  request  of  the  government  he  conducted  many 
experiments  with  projectiles  and  great  guns. 

After  another  voyage  to  Africa,  to  help  suppress 
piracy  and  the  slave-trade,  he  took  an  active  and  success- 
ful part  in  the  Mexican  War,  in  the  surrender  of  Vera 
Cruz,  Tabasco,  and  other  cities. 

All  this  varied  experience  was  leading  to  the  one 
crowning  act  of  his  life  —  the  opening  of  Japan  to  the 
world. 

For  centuries  this  empire  of  Japan  had  been  closed  to 
the  ships  and  citizens  of  every  land.  The  Dutch  were 
allowed  a  very  few  limited  privileges.  For  more  than 
three  hundred  years  Portuguese,  English,  French, 
Russians,  and  Americans  had  tried  in  vain  to  hold  com- 
mercial relations  with  her,  to  travel  among  her  people, 
and  to  buy  the  delicate  workmanship  of  her  hands. 
Commodore  Perry  believed  that  with  kindness  and  tact, 
backed  by  a  force  sufficient  to  impress  the  natives, 
entrance  to  Japan  might  be  effected. 


MATTHEW  CALBRAITII  PERRY.  417 

He  read  all  the  available  literature  on  the  subject  as 
soon  as  he  knew  that  he  was  to  take  the  lead  of  the 
expedition.  He  notified  the  authorities  at  Washington 
of  his  intention  to  take  with  him,  for  the  Japanese, 
specimens  of  our  mechanical  products,  arms,  and  ma- 
chinery, and  asked  manufacturers  for  samples  of  every 
description. 

The  Norris  Brothers  of  Philadelphia  furnished  a 
little  locomotive  and  rails  to  be  laid  down  in  Japan. 

A  letter  to  the  Emperor  of  Japan  from  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  Millard  Fillmore,  written  by  the 
Hon.  Edward  Everett,  the  Secretary  of  State,  was  hand- 
somely engrossed  and  enclosed  in  a  box  which  cost  a 
thousand  dollars. 

After  various  delays  and  obstacles,  Commodore  Perry 
started  in  the  ship  Mississippi  from  Norfolk,  Va.,  Nov. 
24,  1852,  several  other  vessels  of  the  squadron  soon 
following  him.  "  Until  the  great  Civil  War,  only  two 
fleets  —  that  is,  collections  of  war  vessels  numbering  at 
least  twelve  —  had  assembled  under  the  American  flag. 
These  were  in  the  waters  of  Mexico  and  Japan.  Both 
were  commanded  by  Matthew  C.  Perry."  Thus  writes 
the  Rev.  William  Elliot  Griffis  in  his  life  of  Perry. 

On  the  passage  out  they  stopped  at  Madeira,  where 
the  Commodore  made  some  official  calls  in  the  fashion- 
able conveyance  of  Eunchal,  a  sledge  with  a  gayly  deco- 
rated  carriage  body,  drawn  by  a  yoke  of  oxen.  The  ladies 
of  the  town  often  rode  on  horseback,  a  groom  keeping 
pace  with  the  horse.  At  the  island  of  St.  Helena  the 
officers  visited  the  lonely  spot  where  Napoleon  found  a 
home  and  a  grave  in  1821. 

At  Cape  Town,  in  the  south  of  Africa,  Perry  saw 
something  of  the  Hottentots,  who  lived  in  movable  huts 


418  MATTHEW  CALBRA1TH  PERRY. 

made  of  boughs,  which  they  conveyed  from  place  to 
place  on  the  backs  of  oxen. 

At  Mauritius  the  officers  visited  the  supposed  tomb 
of  Paul  and  Virginia,  immortalized  by  the  pen  of  Ber- 
nardin  St.  Pierre,  who  was  then  an  officer  of  the  garrison 
of  Mauritius.  The  French  ship,  St.  Gevan,  was  wrecked 
on  the  north-east  coast  of  the  island  on  the  night  of  Aug. 
18,  1744.  On  board  the  ship  were  two  young  ftidies 
Mallet  and  Caillon,  returning  as  passengers  from  Prance, 
whither  they  had  been  sent  to  be  educated.  Monsieur 
Longchamps  de  Montendre  (Paul)  and  Madamoisello 
Caillon  (Virginia)  were  last  seen  on  the  top-gallant 
forecastle  of  the  wrecked  vessel.  Montendre  had 
lowered  himself  down  from  the  ship's  side  to  throw 
himself  into  the  sea,  earnestly  begging  the  girl  to  at- 
tempt to  save  herself  with  him,  but  on  her  refusal,  he 
returned  and  would  not  again  leave  her.  Mademoiselle 
Mallet  was  on  the  quarter-deck  with  Monsieur  de  Pera- 
mont,  who  never  left  her  for  a  moment.  Nearly  all  on 
board  perished. 

A  short  stay  was  made  at  Ceylon  by  the  squadron. 
"  Of  the  productions  of  the  island,"  says  the  narra- 
tive of  the  Perry  expedition,  compiled  by  Dr.  Francis  L. 
Hawks,  "the  cocoanut  is  probably  the  most  valuable  to 
the  natives.  Everywhere  in  Ceylon,  as  far  as  the  eye 
can  reach,  extensive  plantations  of  this  tree  are  to  be 
seen,  and  the  numerous  roads  throughout  the  island  are 
bordered  with  it.  The  weary  and  heated  traveller  finds 
not  only  protection  from  the  sun  in  its  shade,  but  refresh- 
ment from  the  milk  of  the  fruit,  which  is  both  agreeable 
to  the  taste  and  wholesome. 

"  The  cocoanut  palm  has  a  great  variety  of  uses. 
The  green  fruit,  with  its  delicate  albuminous  meat  and 


•MATTHEW  CALBRAITH  PERRY.  419 

its  refreshing  milk,  is  a  favorite  article  of  food.  When 
ripe,  the  kernel  of  the  nut  is  dried,  forming  what  the 
natives  term  copperal,  and  an  oil  of  great  value  is  ex- 
pressed from  it,  while  the  residuum  forms  an  excellent 
oil  cake  for  the  fattening  of  animals.  Even  the  husk 
of  the  nut  is  useful ;  its  fibres  are  wrought  into  the  coir 
rope,  of  which  large  quantities  are  annually  exported, 
and  the  shells  are  manufactured  into  various  domestic 
utensils.  From  the  sap  of  the  tree  a  drink  is  obtained 
which  is  called  '  toddy,'  -and  made  into  arrack  by  distil- 
lation. The  leaves  afford  a  good  material  for  the 
thatching  of  the  native  huts,  and  are,  moreover,  given 
as  food  to  elephants." 

The  talipot  is  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  island.  A 
single  leaf  of  this  tree  will  shade  several  persons.  When 
the  leaf  is  softened  by  boiling,  the  natives  use  it  as  a 
substitute  for  paper,  and  write  upon  it.  The  cinnamon- 
tree  abounds  with  its  beautiful  white  blossoms  and  red- 
tipped  leaves. 

After  touching  at  Singapore,  the  squadron  reached 
Hong  Kong,  April  6.  Perry  spent  a  few  days  at  Macao, 
in  which  is  the  cave  of  Camoens,  where  the  celebrated 
Portuguese  poet  is  supposed  to  have  written  a  portion  of 
his  "  Lusiad."  He  first  visited  Macao  when  banished 
from  Portugal  on  account  of  his  persistent  courtship  of  a 
lady  of  rank,  whose  parents  were  opposed  to  a  poor 
genius.  He  returned  to  Portugal,  and  died  in  a  hospital 
in  poverty.  Above  the  cave  at  Macao  is  a  marble  monu- 
ment with  a  bronze  bust  of  the  poet. 

Shanghai  was  visited;  and  then  the  squadron,  the  Com- 
modore having  transferred  his  home  from  the  Mississippi 
to  the  Susquehanna,  sailed  from  Napa,  the  principal 
port  of  the  Great  Liu  Kiu  Island,  one  of  a  group  said  to 
number  thirty-six  islands,  a  dependency  of  Japan. 


420  MATTHEW   CALBRAITH  PERRY. 

Bayard  Taylor  had  joined  the  squadron  at  Shanghai, 
and  thereafter  kept  most  interesting  journals  of  the 
expedition. 

Two  hours  after  the  ships  came  to  anchor  two  Jap- 
anese officials  appeared  on  board,  presenting  with  pro- 
found salutations  a  folded  red  card  of  Japanese  paper 
a  yard  long.  One  man  wore  a  loose  salmon-colored  robe 
of  grass  cloth,  while  the  other  wore  blue.  Both  had  on 
oblong  caps  of  bright  yellow. 

The  Commodore  declined  to  see  these  men,  determined 
to  receive  only  the  principal  dignitaries.  The  next  day 
these  officials  came  with  presents,  —  a  bullock,  several 
pigs,  fowls,  and  eggs ;  but  these  were  declined  till  a 
treaty  should  be  made,  or  some  formal  recognition  taken 
of  the  American  representatives. 

A  few  days  later  the  regent  of  Liu  Kiu,  a  venerable 
old  man,  arrived,  and  was  received  with  much  ceremony 
by  the  Commodore,  who  repaid  the  visit  at  the  royal 
palace,  June  6,  evidently  much  against  the  will  of  the 
authorities. 

The  Commodore  was  borne  in  a  sedan  chair  by  eight 
Chinese  coolies,  his  marines,  under  arms,  in  line  on  either 
side,  with  two  field-pieces  and  the  artillerymen  in  front. 

The  natives  knelt  as  the  procession  passed.  It  was 
evident  that  spies  were  on  every  side.  The  band  played 
"  Hail  Columbia  "  as  they  reached  the  palace  gate. 

The  Commodore  and  his  officers  were  received  in  the 
hall  of  audience,  where  smoking-boxes  were  distributed 
and  twists  of  gingerbread.  The  queen  dowager,  and  boy 
prince  for  whom  the  regent  governed,  did  not  make 
their  appearance. 

After  this  formal  reception  the  party  was  received 
at  the  home  of  the  regent,  where  a  bountiful  repast  was 


MATTHEW  CALBRAITU  PERRY.  421 

served.  Many  of  the  dishes  were  unfamiliar  to  Americans. 
Of  those  which  they  knew,  "  there  were  sliced  boiled 
eggs,  which  had  been  dyed  crimson,  fish  made  into  rolls 
and  boiled  in  fat,  pieces  of  cold  baked  fish,  slices  of  hog's 
liver,  sugar  candy,  cucumbers,  mustard,  salted  radish 
tops,  and  fragments  of  lean  pork  fried.  Cups  of  tea 
were  first  handed  round ;  these  were  followed  by  very 
small  cups  of  sake  [an  intoxicating  drink  made  from 
rice],  which  had  the  taste  of  French  liqueur.  Small 
bamboo  sticks,  sharpened  at  one  end,  and  which  some 
of  the  guests  mistook  for  toothpicks,  were  furnished,  to 
be  used  as  forks  in  taking  balls  of  meat  and  dough  from 
the  soup,  which  made  the  first  course.  Soup  consti- 
tuted also  the  next  seven  courses  of  the  twelve  whereof 
the  repast  consisted.  The  other  four  were  gingerbread, 
salad  made  of  bean  sprouts  and  young  onion  tops,  a 
basket  of  what  appeared  to  be  some  dark-red  fruit,  but 
proved  to  be  artificial  balls  composed  of  a  thin  dough 
rind  covering  a  sugary  pulp,  and  a  delicious  mixture 
compounded  of  beaten  eggs  and  a  slender  white  root  with 
an  aromatic  taste." 

As  long  as  the  squadron  remained  at  Liu  Kiu  all 
military  and  naval  drills  were  regularly  performed  daily. 
Of  the  seventeen  boats  manned  and  equipped,  five  carried 
twelve  and  twenty-four  pounders.  These  created  great 
interest  among  the  people  of  Liu  Kiu. 

The  inhabitants  were  found  to  be  very  neat,  living  in 
plain,  unpainted  houses,  whose  floors  were  covered  with 
mats  which  were  carefully  preserved  from  dirt,  the 
people  stepping  on  them  with  bare  feet  or  with  stockings 
only.  When  they  entered  the  house,  they  slipped  off 
their  loose  straw  sandals,  and  left  them  at  the  door. 

The  crown  of  the  head,  to  the  extent  of  two  or  three 


422  MATTHEW  CALBRAITn  PERRY. 

inches,  was  shaved,  and  into  the  vacant  space  the  hair 
was  drawn  and  plaited,  fastened  by  two  large  hair-pins. 
The  lower  class  usually  wore  brass  or  pewter  pins, 
while  the  literati,  or  dignitaries,  used  gold  or  silver. 

On  June  9,  Bonin  Islands,  lying  in  the  Japanese  Sea, 
were  visited ;  and  a  month  later,  on  July  7,  the  fleet 
came  to  anchor  at  Uraga,  in  the  Bay  of  Yedo.  Great 
was  the  astonishment  of  the  Japanese.  A  number  of 
Japanese  guard-boats  were  sent  out  to  the  ships,  but 
the  Commodore  would  not  allow  the  men  to  come  on 
board.  They  made  several  attempts  to  climb  into  the 
American  vessels,  but  were  checked  by  the  sight  of 
pistols  and  pikes. 

Finally  an  official  appeared  with  an  order  for  the  ships 
to  depart  instantly.  He  was  told  that  the  Commodore 
bore  a  message  from  the  President  of  the  United  States 
to  the  Emperor,  and  would  confer  with  no  one  except 
the  highest  in  rank  in  Uraga. 

During  that  first  night,  when  a  foreign  squadron 
anchored  in  the  Bay  of  Yedo,  beacon  fires  glimmered  on 
the  hills,  and  the  great  bell  tolled  its  danger  signal. 
Companies  of  Japanese  soldiers,  in  their  scarlet  uni- 
forms, passed  from  garrison  to  garrison. 

Perry  was  finally  informed  that  he  must  go  to  some 
other  port  to  deliver  his  message  to  the  Emperor ;  but 
this  he  declined  to  do,  saying  that  if  the  Japanese 
government  did  not  see  fit  to  appoint  a  proper  person 
to  receive  such  a  valuable  letter,  the  Commodore,  with  a 
sufficient  force,  would  be  obliged  to  deliver  it  in  person, 
let  the  consequences  be  what  they  might. 

Boats  with  white  flags,  to  show  their  peaceful  inten- 
tion, were  sent  out  from  the  American  ships  to  explore 
the  bay  and  harbor  of  Uraga;  and  when  the  Japanes3 


MATTHEW  CALBEAITII  PERRY.  423 

demurred,  saying  that  this  was  against  their  laws,  they 
were  told  that  the  American  laws  commanded  these 
explorations,  and  American  subjects  must  obey. 

Sunday,  July  10,  was  carefully  observed  by  religious 
services,  and  no  communication  was  held  with  the 
Japanese  on  that  day. 

On  July  13,  the  governor  of  the  Province  arrived, 
bearing  a  letter  of  credence  from  the  Emperor,  wrapped 
in  velvet,  and  enclosed  in  a  box  of  sandal-wood.  It  was 
treated  with  such  reverence  by  the  governor  that  no  one 
was  allowed  to  touch  it.  The  letter  was  addressed  to 
his  highness,  Toda,  Prince  of  Idzu :  "I  send  you  to 
Uraga  to  receive  the  letter  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  me,  which  letter  has  recently  been 
brought  to  Uraga  by  the  Admiral,  upon  receiving  which 
you  will  proceed  to  Yedo,  and  bring  the  same  to  me." 
The  Emperor's  seal  was  at  the  bottom. 

A  building  was  immediately  constructed,  trimmed 
with  flags  and  painted  screens,  Avherein  the  Commodore 
was  to  meet  Toda,  Prince  of  Idzu,  and  deliver  the  Presi- 
dent's letter  in  the  thousand-dollar  gold  case. 

When  the  time  arrived  the  Commodore,  surrounded 
by  about  three  hundred  of  his  men,  all  in  uniform,  the 
guns  from  his  ships  firing  every  now  and  then,  repaired 
to  the  place  of  meeting.  Two  stalwart  seamen  bore  the 
flag  at  the  head  of  the  procession,  and  two  boys  pre- 
ceded the  Commodore,  carrying  the  golden  box  in  a 
covering  of  scarlet  cloth.  The  President's  letter,  and 
the  credentials  of  Perry,  were  written  on  vellum,  and 
not  folded,  but  bound  in  blue  silk  velvet.  Each  seal, 
attached  by  cords  of  gold  and  silk,  was  encased  in 
a  circular  box  of  pure  gold.  Each  document  was  in  a 
rosewood    box,  with    locks,  hinges,  and    mountings  of 


424  MATTHEW  CALBRAITII  PERRY. 

gold.  Two  tall  negroes,  armed,  acted  as  Perry's  body- 
guard. 

The  ships  had  meantime  been  cleared  for  action  in 
case  there  should  be  hostile  demonstrations  on  shore 
towards  the  Americans. 

The  Japanese  officials  were  gorgeously  attired  in  silks 
and  gold  lace.  A  hundred  Japanese  boats  lined  the 
shore,  while  thousands  of  the  people  flocked  to  witness 
so  strange  a  spectacle. 

The  letter  to  the  Emperor  from  the  President  urged 
the  abrogation  of  the  ancient  Japanese  laws  which  for- 
bade foreign  trade,  desired  to  make  a  treaty  useful  alike 
to  both  nations,  whereby  Japanese  ports  should  be 
opened,  and  begged  the  acceptance,  by  the  Emperor,  of 
some  gifts.  The  friendly  letter  of  Millard  Fillmore,  to 
his  "  Great  and  Good  Friend,"  said,  "  May  the  Almighty 
have  your  imperial  majesty  in  His  great  and  holy  keep- 
ing ! " 

Commodore  Perry,  "  Commander-in-chief  of  all  the 
naval  forces  of  the  United  States  of  America,  stationed 
in  the  East  Indies,  China  and  Japan  Seas,"  sent  as  a 
special  ambassador  by  the  President,  also  wrote  a  full 
letter  to  the  Emperor. 

After  the  giving  of  the  letters,  the  Commodore  ex- 
plained that  he  would  return  to  Japan  the  following 
spring,  to  receive  the  answer  of  the  Emperor  to  the 
President. 

Perry  sailed  back  to  Liu  Kiu  and  China,  where  he 
studied  the  people,  and  obtained  much  valuable  infor- 
mation. All  the  land  in  Liu  Kiu  was  held  by  the 
government,  and  rented  to  large  tenants,  who  in  turn 
sub-let  it  to  the  direct  cultivators  of  the  soil.  Rice  was 
found  to  be  the  chief  product,  though  wheat,  tobacco, 


MATTHEW  CALBRAITII  PERRY.  425 

peanuts,  onions,  and  radishes  — some  three  feet  long  and 
twelve  inches  round,  were  seen  in  abundance.  The 
flowers  were  the  camellia,  which  grows  wild  and  bears 
a  pink  blossom,  the  dahlia,  morning-glory,  marsh-mallow, 
etc.  The  bamboo  was  large,  and  of  great  value  to  the 
people. 

"  Great  reverence  is  paid  to  the  dead  in  Liu  Kiu," 
says  the  Perry  narrative,  "  where  they  are  put  in  coffins 
in  a  sitting  posture,  and  being  followed  by  the  friends 
and  relations,  and  a  procession  of  women  in  long  white 
veils  which  cover  their  heads  and  faces,  are  interred  in 
well-built  stone  vaults,  or  tombs  constructed  in  the  sides 
of  the  hills.  After  the  body  has  been  interred  for  a 
period  of  seven  years,  and  all  the  flesh  is  decayed,  the 
bones  are  removed  and  deposited  in  stone  vases,  which 
are  placed  upon  shelves  within  the  vaults.  The  poor 
people  place  the  remains  of  their  dead  in  earthen  jars, 
and  deposit  them  in  the  crevices  of  the  rocks,  where 
they  are  often  to  be  seen,  broken  and  disarranged. 
Periodical  visits  are  paid  by  the  surviving  friends  and 
relations  to  the  burial-places,  where  they  deposit  offer- 
ings upon  the  tombs.  On  the  first  interment  of  the 
rich  dead,  roast  pig  and  other  articles  of  food  are  offered, 
and  after  being  allowed  to  remain  for  a  short  time,  are 
distributed  among  the  poor." 

The  Commodore  and  his  squadron  returned  to  the 
Bay  of  Yedo  about  the  middle  of  February,  1854.  The 
Japanese  Emperor  had  died  during  Perry's  absence,  and 
the  treaty,  if  concluded  at  all,  would  be  made  with  his 
successor. 

A  treaty-house  was  built  near  Yokohama;  and  here  the 
conferences  took  place,  Perry  coming  thither  with  five 
hundred  men  in  twenty -seven  boats.     Twenty-one  guns 


426  MATTHEW   CALBRAITII  PERRY. 

were  fired  in  honor  of  the  Emperor,  and  seventeen  in 
honor  of  his  high  commissioner,  Hayashi  Daigaku-no- 
Kami. 

The  presents  to  the  Emperor  of  Japan,  and  to  his 
officials,  filling  several  large  boats,  were  delivered  March 
13.  These  were  swords,  muskets,  telegraph  instruments, 
three  life-boats,  seven  volumes  of  Audubon's  "Birds 
and  Quadrupeds  of  America,"  potatoes,  stoves,  telescope, 
agricultural  implements,  etc.  The  mile  of  telegraph, 
when  in  working  order,  created  intense  interest.  The 
tiny  locomotive  was  at  once  secured  for  a  ride  by  a  man- 
darin, on  its  roof.  "  It  was  a  spectacle,  not  a  little 
ludicrous,"  says  Perry,  "  to  behold  a  dignified  mandarin 
whirling  around  the  circular  road  at  the  rate  of  twenty 
miles  an  hour,  with  his  loose  robes  flying  in  the  wind." 

Eleven  days  later,  March  24,  a  large  number  of  gifts 
were  received  for  the  government  of  the  United  States 
from  the  Emperor ;  gold  lacquered  writing-tables,  desks, 
boxes,  silks,  pongees,  crape,  matting,  porcelain,  bamboo 
stands,  two  hundred  bundles  of  rice,  each  measuring  five 
Japanese  pecks,  and  three  hundred  chickens. 

Perry  gave  a  feast  to  the  Japanese  officials.  At  the 
close  of  the  dinner,  the  guests  gathered  in  long  folds  of 
paper  all  they  could  reach  from  the  tables,  and  stored 
it  away  in  their  pockets,  or  in  the  capacious  sleeves  of 
their  robes.  This  was  the  fashion  of  the  country,  and 
when  they  entertained  the  Americans,  the  Japanese 
urged  them  to  take  to  the  ships  all  they  could  carry 
from  the  feasts. 

After  many  days  spent  in  conference,  a  treaty  with 
America  by  which  two  ports  were  opened,  Hakodate  in 
Yesso,  and  Shimoda  in  Idzu,  was  finally  concluded, 
Friday,  March   31,   1854,    whereupon   Perry   presented 


MATTHEW  CALBRAITU  PERRY.  427 

Prince  Hagashi  with  an  American  flag,  as  the  highest 
expression  of  national  courtesy  and  friendship  which  he 
could  offer.  On  a  portion  of  the  ground  at  Yokohama 
where  the  treaty  was  made,  the  first  Protestant  Church  in 
Japan  was  organized  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ballagh.  The  first 
five  thousand  dollars  towards  its  erection  were  sent  by 
Christian  converts  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands. 

After  remaining  for  some  days  in  the  Bay  of  Yedo, 
where  the  camellias  on  the  shore  grow  to  forty  feet  in 
height,  with  magnificent  red  and  white  blossoms,  and 
being  entertained  in  the  homes  of  some  of  the  officials, 
where  the  rooms  were  covered  with  soft  mats,  and  the 
windows  made  of  oiled  paper,  the  Commodore  sailed  for 
Shimoda  on  the  island  of  Niphon.  He  found  the  houses 
as  usual,  divided  into  several  compartments  by  means 
of  sliding  panels,  and  destitute  of  tables,  chairs,  sofas, 
and  what  to  us  are  essentials  for  comfort. 

"  Shimoda,"  says  William  Elliot  Griffis,  in  his  very 
interesting  "Mikado's  Empire,"  "before  it  fairly  began 
to  be  of  much  service,  was  visited  by  a  terrific  earthquake 
and  tidal  wave,  that  hurled  a  Russian  frigate  to  destruc- 
tion, overwhelmed  the  town,  sweeping  back  by  its  reces- 
sion into  the  boiling  ocean  scores  of  houses  and  about 
one  hundred  human  beings.  The  effluent  wave  ploughed 
the  harbor  with  such  force  that  all  the  mud  was  scoured 
from  the  rocky  bed.  The  anchors  of  ships  could  obtain 
no  grip  on  the  bare,  slippery  rock  bottom  ;  and  Shimoda, 
being  useless  as  a  harbor,  was  abandoned.  The  ruin  of 
Shimoda  was  the  rise  of  Yokohama." 

By  a  new  treaty  five  years  later,  1859,  Kanagawa, 
three  miles  across  the  bay  from  Yokohama,  and  Nagas- 
aki were  made  open  ports. 

Eliza  Ruhamah  Scidmore,  in  her  "  Jinrikisha  Days  in 


428  MATTHEW  CALBRA1TH  PERRY. 

Japan/'  thus  describes  a  Japanese  house  :  "  The  area  of 
every  room  is  some  multiple  of  three  feet,  because 
the  soft  tatami,  or  floor-mats,  measure  six  feet  in  length 
by  three  in  width.  These  are  woven  of  common  straw 
and  rushes,  faced  with  a  closely  wrought  mat  of  rice- 
straw.  It  is  to  save  these  tatami  and  the  polished  floors 
that  the  shoes  are  left  outside  the  house. 

"The  thick  screens,  ornamented  with  sketches  or 
poems,  that  separate  one  room  from  another,  are  the 
fusuma  ;  the  screens  shutting  off  the  veranda,  pretty  lat- 
tice frames  covered  with  rice-paper  that  admit  a  pecul- 
iarly soft  light  to  the  rooms,  are  the  shoji,  and  in  their 
management  is  involved  an  elaborate  eticpiette.  .  .  . 

"The  Japanese  bed  is  the  floor,  with  a  wooden  box 
under  the  neck  for  a  pillow  and  a  futon  for  a  covering. 
To  the  foreigner  the  Japanese  landlord  allows  five  or 
six  futons,  or  cotton- wadded  comforters,  and  they  make 
a  tolerable  mattress,  although  not  springy,  and  rather 
apt  to  be  damp  and  musty.  .  .  .  By  day  the  futons  are 
placed  in  closets  out  of  sight,  or  hung  over  the  bal- 
conies to  air,  coming  back  damper  than  ever,  if  the  ser- 
vants forget  to  bring  them  in  before  sunset." 

At  Shimoda  Commodore  Perry  found  nine  Buddhist 
temples,  one  large  Shinto  temple,  and  a  great  number  of 
smaller  shrines.  At  the  door  of  the  main  apartment 
to  the  temples  of  Buddha  there  was  a  drum  on  the  left 
and  a  bell  on  the  right,  to  awaken  the  attention  of  the 
idols  when  the  devout  come  to  pray. 

In  connection  with  each  Buddhist  monastery  was  a 
well-kept  graveyard,  where  statues  of  Buddha,  some 
life-size  and  some  not  larger  than  a  foot  high,  were 
generously  distributed.  Fresh  cut  flowers  were  daily 
deposited  before  the  tombs  and  the  idols. 


MATTHEW  CALBRAITII  PERRY.  429 

A  broad  avenue  of  fir  and  juniper  trees  led  to  the 
great  Shinto  temple,  which  was  very  plain  both  without 
and  within.  A  subscription  list,  thirty  feet  long,  hung 
on  the  walls  of  the  temple,  giving  the  names  of  those 
who  provided  for  the  expenses  of  the  temple  service. 
From  the  door  hung  a  straw  rope  connected  with  a  bell, 
that  the  deity  worshipped  might  know  when  the  reli- 
gious call  was  made. 

At  present  the  established  religion  of  Japan,  save 
where  Christianity  has  been  accepted,  is  Shintoism. 
The  great  divinity  of  the  Shinto  religion  is  the  Sun 
Goddess  Amaterasu.  From  her,  according  to  Japanese 
belief,  the  Mikados  are  directly  descended.  The  first 
emperor,  or  Mikado,  about  whom  there  is  any  authentic 
history,  was  Jimmu  Tenno,  the  fifth  in  descent  from  the 
Sun-Goddess.  He  reigned  from  C60  to  585  b.c.  He 
married  Tatara,  the  most  beautiful  woman  in  Japan,  the 
daughter  of  one  of  his  captains,  and  died  at  the  age  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty -seven. 

Isabella  L.  Bird,  in  her  "  Unbeaten  Tracks  in  Japan,*' 
written  in  1880,  says  there  are  about  98,000  Shinto 
temples  in  Japan,  which  number  includes  all  the  way- 
side shrines  and  the  shrines  in  the  groves.  Miss  Scid- 
more  says  there  are  about  twice  this  number.  "  The 
characteristics  of  '  Pure  Shinto,' "  says  Miss  Bird  (Mrs. 
Bishop),  "  are  the  absence  of  an  ethical  and  doctrinal 
code,  of  idol-worship,  of  priestcraft,  and  of  any  teachings 
concerning  a  future  state,  and  the  deification  of  heroes, 
emperors,  and  great  men,  together  with  the  worship  of 
certain  forces  and  objects  in  natui'e." 

The  Shinto  temples  are  of  unpainted  wood.  Within 
each  shrine  is  a  circular  steel  mirror,  a  copy  of  the  one 
given  by  the  Sun-Goddess  as  an  emblem  of  herself  to 


430  MATTHEW    CALBRAITn  PERRY. 

Ninigi,  when  she  sent  him  down  to  govern  the  world. 
"  In  the  pure  Shinto  temples,"  says  Miss  Bird,  "  which 
do  not  even  display  the  mirror,  there  is  a  kind  of  recep- 
tacle concealed  behind  the  closed  doors  of  the  actual 
shrine,  which  contains  a  case  only  exposed  to  view  on 
the  day  of  the  annual  festival,  and  which  is  said  to  con- 
tain the  spirit  of  the  deity  to  whom  the  temple  is  dedi- 
cated, the  '  august  spirit  substitute,'  or  <  God's  seed.'  " 

Shintoisin  was  the  ancient  religion  of  Japan ;  but 
Buddhism,  being  introduced  in  the  sixth  century,  made 
rapid  progress,  and  was  almost  the  only  religion  till  the 
restoration  of  the  Mikado  to  power  in  1868,  when  Shin- 
toisin again  became  the  State  religion. 

Buddhist  temples  are  still  built  by  the  faithful ;  and 
Miss  Alice  Mabel  Bacon  describes  a  great  one,  building 
at  Kyoto,  where  the  women,  "  wishing  to  have  some  part 
in  the  sacred  work,  cut  off  their  abundant  hair,  a  beauty 
perhaps  more  prized  by  the  Japanese  women  than  by 
those  of  other  countries,  and  from  the  material  thus 
obtained  they  twisted  immense  cables,  to  be  used  in 
drawing  the  timbers  from  the  mountains  to  the  site  of 
the  temple.  The  great  black  cables  hang  in  the  un- 
finished temple  to-day." 

"  This  Higashi  Hongwanji  "  (Eastern  Temple),  says 
Miss  Scidmore,  "was  eight  years  in  building,  and  is  the 
largest  temple  in  Japan."  Of  the  ropes  of  hair,  she 
says,  "  The  largest  rope  is  five  inches  in  diameter  and 
two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long,  the  hair,  wdund  in  a 
dozen  different  strands  around  a  slender  core  of  hemp, 
having  been  given  by  three  thousand  five  hundred  of  the 
pious  maids  and  matrons  of  the  province  of  Echizen. 
Here  and  there  in  this  giant  cable  are  pathetic  threads 
of  white  hair,  the  rest  being  deep  black." 


MATTHEW  CALBRAITH  PERRY.  431 

The  services  are  very  elaborate,  and  bear  a  strong 
resemblance  to  those  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 
In  the  country,  more  frequently  than  in  the  cities, 
is  seen  the  Nagare  kanjo  (flowing  invocation).  A 
piece  of  cotton  cloth  is  suspended  by  four  corners  to 
stakes  set  in  the  ground  near  a  brook.  Resting  on  the 
cloth,  or  if  in  the  city,  in  a  pail  of  water,  is  a  wooden 
dipper.  The  passers-by  offer  a  prayer  with  the  aid  of 
the  rosary,  dip  a  cup  full  of  water,  pour  it  on  the  cloth, 
and  when  it  has  strained  through,  move  on.  This  act  is 
to  help  a  mother  out  of  Hades  in  the  Lake  of  Blood 
who  has  died  at  the  birth  of  a  child,  on  account  of  some 
sin  committed  in  a  previous  state  of  existence.  When 
the  cloth  is  so  worn  out  that  it  no  longer  permits  the 
water  to  drain  through  it,  the  spirit  of  the  mother  arises 
from  Purgatory  to  live  in  a  higher  state  of  existence. 

It  is  said  that  the  rich  are  able  to  procure  at  the 
temples  cloth  that  will  soon  wear  out,  while  the  poor 
are  able  to  buy  only  the  stoutest  woven  fabric,  so  that 
unfortunately  the  poor  mothers  are  kept  longer  in 
punishment.  The  Japanese  have  a  proverb  that  '"'the 
judgments  of  Hades  depend  on  money." 

The  Japanese  women  pleased  Perry  with  their  gentle- 
ness and  extreme  courtesy.  They  marred  their  attrac- 
tiveness by  painting  the  teeth  black,  as  soon  as  they  were 
married,  and  shaving  the  eyebrows.  This  ugly  fashion 
lias  been  done  away  by  the  Empress  Haruko.  Most 
travellers  seem  to  agree  with  Sir  Edwin  Arnold  in  his 
"Japonica"  and  Henry  Norman  in  his  "Real  Japan," 
published  in  1892,  that  "  The  Japanese  woman  is  the 
crown  of  the  charm  of  Japan.  In  the  noble  lady  and 
her  frailest  and  most  unfortunate  sister  alike,  there  is 
an  indefinable  something   which   is  fascinating  at  first 


432  MATTHEW   CALBRAITn  PEREY. 

sight,  and  grows  only  more  pleasing  on  acquaintance.  .  .  . 
I  think  the  charm  lies  chiefly  .  .  .  in  an  inborn  gentleness 
and  tenderness  and  sympathy,  the  most  womanly  of  all 
qualities,  combined  with  what  the  Romans  used  to  call  <  a 
certain  propriety '  of  thought  and  demeanor,  and  used  to 
admire  so  much."  .  .  .  The  key  to  the  character  of  the 
Japanese  woman  lies  in  the  word  obedience.  Ages  ago, 
her  three  great  duties  were  religiously  declared  to  be 
obedience  :  if  a  daughter,  to  her  father  ;  if  a  wife,  to  her 
husband ;  if  a  widow,  to  her  eldest  son.  Mr.  Griffis 
believes  this  abject  obedience  and  polygamy  are  the 
great  hindrances  to  the  elevation  of  women  in  Japan. 
Miss  Alice  Mabel  Bacon  says  in  her  "  Japanese  Girls  and 
Women  :  "  "  In  Japan,  the  idea  of  a  wife's  duty  to  her 
husband  includes  no  thought  of  companionship  on  terms 
of  equality.  The  wife  is  simply  the  housekeeper,  the 
head  of  the  establishment,  to  be  honored  by  the  servants 
because  she  is  the  one  who  is  nearest  to  the  master,  but 
not  for  one  moment  to  be  regarded  as  the  master's 
equal.  .  .  .  She  appears  rarely  with  him  in  public,  is 
expected  always  to  wait  upon  him,  and  save  him  steps, 
and  must  bear  all  things  from  him  with  smiling  face  and 
agreeable  manners.  ...  In  all  things  the  husband  goes 
first,  the  wife  second.  If  the  husband  drops  his  fan  or 
his  handkerchief,  the  wife  picks  it  up.  The  husband  is 
served  first,  the  wife  afterwards  —  a  good,  considerate, 
careful  body-servant.  .  .  . 

"  Upon  the  11th  day  of  Feb.  1889,  the  day  on  which 
the  Emperor,  by  his  own  act  in  giving  a  constitution  to 
the  people,  limited  his  own  power  for  the  sake  of  put- 
ting his  nation  upon  a  level  with  the  most  civilized 
nations  of  the  earth,  he  at  the  same  time,  and  for  the 
first  time,  publicly  placed  his  wife  upon  his  own  level. 


MATTHEW   CALBRAIT1I  PERRY.  433 

"  111  an  imperial  progress  made  through  the  streets  of 
Tokyo,  the  Emperor  and  Empress,  for  the  first  time  in 
the  history  of  Japan,  rode  together  in  the  imperial 
coach." 

After  Commodore  Perry  had  spent  some  time  at 
Shimoda,  he  visited  the  other  open  port,  Hakodate, 
which  means  "box  shop."  The  town  lies  at  the  base 
of  a  lofty  promontory  divided  into  three  principal  peaks. 
The  houses  were  very  neat,  the  streets  sprinkled  and 
swept,  with  wooden  picket-fences  and  gates  across  the 
road  at  short  intervals.  These  were  opened  for  the  people 
to  pass  during  the  day,  but  closed  at  night. 

In  some  of  the  better  houses  there  were  exquisite 
wood  carvings.  The  walls  were  usually  hung  with  rolls 
of  gayly-colored  paper,  on  which  were  painted  their 
sacred '  bird,  the  stork,  the  winged  tortoise,  and  the 
porpoise,  or  dolphin  of  the  ancients. 

In  the  centre  of  the  common  sitting-room  was  a 
square  hole  built  in  with  tiles  and  gravel  where  a  char- 
coal fire  was  kept  burning,  with  a  tea-kettle  suspended 
above  it.  There  was  thus  a  constant  supply  of  hot 
water  ready  for  tea,  which  is  handed  to  every  visitor  on 
his  arrival. 

In  one  of  the  burial-places  at  Hakodate,  Perry  saw  a 
tall  post  in  which  an  iron  wheel  was  inserted  on  an  axle. 
Every  person  who  turned  this  wheel  in  passing  was 
believed  to  obtain  credit  in  the  other  world  for  one  or 
more  prayers.  "  This  praying  by  wheel  and  axle,"  he 
said,  "  would  seem  to  be  the  very  perfection  of  a  cere- 
monious religion,  as  it  reduces  it  to  a  system  of  mechani- 
cal laws,  which,  provided  the  apparatus  is  kept  in  order, 
a  result  easily  obtained  by  a  little  oil,  moderate  use,  and 
occasional  repairs,  can  be  readily  executed  with  the  least 


434  MATTHEW   CALBRAITTI  PERRY. 

possible  expenditure  of  human  labor,  and  with  all  that 
economy  of  time  and  thought  which  seems  the  great 
purpose  of  our  material  and  mechanical  age." 

While  on  the  island  of  Yesso,  though  rarely  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Hakodate,  Perry  saw  some  of  the  in- 
digenous races  of  Ainos.  They  are  a  little  over  five 
feet  in  height  usually,  and  their  bodies  are  covered 
with  coarse  black  hair,  for  which  reason  they  are  called 
"  Hairy  Kuriles." 

Miss  Bird  travelled  extensively  among  these  people, 
so  little  known  previously.  She  says  they  are  stupid, 
gentle,  good-natured,  and  submissive.  Their  huts  are 
set  on  wooden  stilts.  They  are  made  of  reeds,  tied  upon 
a  wooden  framework,  and  covered  with  thatch.  Their 
food  consists  largely  of  stews  made  of  "wild  roots,  green 
beans,  and  seaweed,  and  shred  dried  fish  and  venison 
among  them,  adding  millet,  water,  and  some  strong- 
smelling  fish-oil,"  cooked  for  three  hours,  and  stirred 
often  with  a  wooden  spoon. 

Miss  Bird  says  the  Ainos  seem  never  to  have  heard  of 
washing  themselves,  for  when  she  bathed  her  hands  and 
face,  they  thought  she  was  performing  an  act  of  worship. 

The  women  do  all  the  hard  work,  such  as  chopping 
wood,  cultivating  the  soil,  etc.  The  people  are  univer- 
sally tattooed,  the  process  of  disfigurement  beginning 
when  they  are  five  years  old.  They  cut  lines  on  the 
upper  lip,  and  fill  the  wounds  with  soot,  washing  the 
scarred  parts  of  the  body  with  a  decoction  of  the  bark  of 
a  tree  to  fix  the  pattern.  The  pattern  on  the  lips  is 
deepened  and  broadened  till  marriage.  This  custom  has 
recently  been  prohibited,  much  to  the  regret  of  these 
savages,  who  say  "  It  is  a  part  of  our  religion." 

They  are  very  fond  of  their  children,  though  a  boy  is 


MATTHEW  CALBRAITn  PERRY.  435 

prized  more  highly  than  a  girl.  The  babies  are  carried 
in  a  hood  or  net  on  the  back  of  the  mother  or  of  another 
child.  This  is  common  among  the  poor  of  Japan.  The 
children  of  the  middle  classes  in  Japan  ride  on  the  backs 
of  nurses,  while  those  of  rich  families  and  the  nobility 
are  carried  in  the  arms  of  an  attendant.  Imperial  babies 
are  held  day  and  night  till  they  learn  to  walk. 

The  Amos  worship  the  bear.  They  capture  a  cub, 
feed  it  in  their  house,  their  children  play  with  it,  till 
when  it  is  strong  and  well-grown,  they  have  "  the  Festival 
of  the  Bear,"  kill  it,  put  its  head  upon  a  pole,  worship  it, 
and  drink  quantities  of  sake. 

At  the  death  of  her  husband,  an  Aino  woman  remains 
secluded  for  a  period  varying  from  six  to  twelve  months  ; 
at  the  death  of  his  wife,  the  man  secludes  himself  for 
thirty  days. 

They  have  a  great  dread  of  death.  They  dress  a 
corpse  in  its  best  clothes,  sew  it  with  some  ornaments  in 
a  mat,  and  carry  it  on  poles  to  some  lonely  grave,  where 
it  is  laid  in  a  recumbent  position. 

Commodore  Perry  returned  from  his  successful  m'.s- 
sion  to  Japan,  January  12,  1855,  having  been  absent  over 
two  years.  He  had  shown  remarkable  firmness,  tact, 
good  sense,  and  ability.  He  at  once  hired  a  room  in 
Washington,  and  aided  by  his  secretaries,  artists,  and  a 
Japanese  lad  as  an  attendant,  he  prepared  for  publica- 
tion the  three  sumptuous  volumes  of  his  report  of  the 
great  country  heretofore  closed  to  the  civilized  world. 

His  own  land  did  not  forget  the  honors  due  him. 
The  city  of  New  York  presented  him  with  a  set  of  silver 
plate.  The  merchants  of  Boston  had  a  medal  struck  in 
his  honor.  The  citizens  of  Newport,  his  native  city, 
tendered  him  a  reception.    Khode  Island,  in  the  presence 


436  MATTHEW  CALBRAITIT  PERRY. 

of  her  legislature,  and  at  the  hands  of  her  chief  magis- 
trate, gave  him  a  solid  silver  salver  weighing  three  hun- 
dred and  nineteen  ounces,  suitably  inscribed. 

When  Perry's  first  volume  was  published,  he  sent  <a 
copy  to  Washington  Irving,  who  wrote  back:  "You 
have  gained  for  yourself  a  lasting  name,  and  have  won  it 
without  shedding  a  drop  of  blood,  or  inflicting  misery 
on  a  human  being.  What  naval  commander  ever  won 
laurels  at  such  a  rate  ?  " 

Commodore  Perry  did  not  long  survive  his  last  impor- 
tant work.  He  wrote  several  papers  on  naval  matters 
and  diplomacy.  In  February,  1858,  he  took  a  severe  cold, 
and  March  4th,  a  little  past  midnight,  died  of  rheumatism 
of  the  heart,  at  his  home  in  Thirty-second  Street,  New 
York  city.  He  was  buried  with  distinguished  honors 
from  St.  Mark's  Church,  the  church  bells  tolling,  and 
the  minute-guns  booming  from  the  ships  in  the  harbor. 
He  lies  buried  at  Newport  near  his  famous  brother, 
Oliver,  and  the  other  members  of  his  family.  His 
widow  survived  him  twei^-one  years,  dying  June  14, 
1879,  at  the  age  of  82. 

"He  had  both  the  qualities,"  says  Mr.  Griffis,  "neces- 
sary for  war  and  for  peaceful  victory.  Though  his 
conquests  in  war  and  in  peace,  in  science  and  in  diplo- 
macy, were  great,  the  victory  over  himself  was  first, 
greatest,  and  most  lasting.  He  always  kept  his  word  and 
spoke  the  truth.  .  .  .  He  seemed  never  idle  for  one 
moment  of  his  life.  .  .  . 

"  In  the  matter  of  pecuniary  responsibility,  Perry  was 
excessively  sensitive,  with  a  hatred  of  debt  bordering  on 
the  morbid.  .  .  .  He  believed  a  naval  officer,  as  a  servant 
of  the  United  States  Government,  ought  to  be  as  chival- 
rous, as  honest,  as  just  and  lovely  in  character,  to  a  boot- 


MATTHEW  CALBRAITII  PERRY.  437 

black  or  a  washerwoman  as  to  a  jewelled  lady  or  a  titled 
nobleman." 

Perry  once  remarked  to  Rear-Admiral  Almy,  on  a 
voyage  home  by  way  of  the  West  Indies  :  "  I  have  just 
finished  the  Bible.  I  have  read  it  through  from  Genesis 
to  Revelation.  I  make  it  a  point  to  read  it  through 
every  cruise.  It  is  certainly  a  remarkable  book,  a  most 
wonderful  book." 

When,  in  1842,  the  ships  fitted  out  were  supplied  with 
Bibles  by  the  government,  Perry  said,  "The  mere  cost 
of  these  books,  fifty  cents  each,  is  nothing  to  the 
moral  effect  which  such  an  order  will  have  in  advancing 
the  character  of  the  service." 

Since  Perry's  time,  a  new  nation  has  been  born  in 
Japan.  Before  he  opened  the  ports,  thinking  men  had 
become  dissatisfied  with  the  condition  of  things.  The 
Mikado,  from  being  an  active  ruler  as  in  former  cen- 
turies, had  become  a  mere  figure-head.  He  never  ap- 
peared in  public.  His  subjects  never  saw  his  face. 
"  He  sat  on  a  throne  of  mats  behind  a  curtain,"  says 
Mr.  Griffis,  "  and  his  feet  were  never  allowed  to  touch 
the  earth.  When  he  went  abroad  in  the  city,  he  rode  in 
a  car  closely  curtained,  and  drawn  by  bullocks." 

In  1868  a  great  revolution  came.  The  Shogun,  who 
was  the  actual  ruler,  was  dethroned  ;  the  daimios,  or 
feudal  princes,  gave  up  their  great  estates  and  their 
thousands  of  "  two-sworded "  retainers,  called  the  sa- 
murai, and  retired  to  private  life;  and  the  present  Mi- 
kado, Mitsu  Hito,  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-first 
Emperor  of  his  line,  became  the  ruling  monarch.  He  is 
now  a  little  over  forty  years  of  age,  having  been  born  in 
the  Kyoto  palace,  November  3,  1852.  The  Empress  Ha- 
rnko  is  the  daughter  of  Ichijo  Tokada,  a  court  noble  of 


438  MATTHEW  CALBRAITII  PERRY. 

the  highest  rank.  She  is  said  to  be  well  educated,  of 
charming  manners,  helpful  to  the  women  of  her  realm, 
and  talented  as  well.  Several  of  her  poems  have  been 
set  to  music. 

The  Emperor  and  his  court  have  all  adopted  European 
dress.  Two  among  the  foremost  ladies  at  court  are 
graduates  of  Vassar  College. 

In  1868  the  Mikado  declared  that  "  intellect  and 
learning  should  be  sought  for  throughout  the  world,"  and 
the  promise  has  been  faithfully  kept.  Japanese  boys 
were  sent  at  once  to  foreign  nations  to  learn  the  best 
that  their  schools  afforded.     Many  came  to  America. 

A  remarkable  educational  system  was  adopted  in  1873. 
Upon  the  elementary  schools  alone,  more  than  six  mil- 
lion dollars  are  spent  annually.  Miss  Bird  says,  "  The 
glory  and  pride  of  Japanese  educational  institutions  is 
the  Imperial  College  of  Engineering.  .  .  in  the  opinion 
of  many  competent  judges,  the  most  complete  and  best- 
equipped  engineering  college  in  the  world."  This  in- 
stitution at  Tokyo,  with  the  Imperial  University,  the 
Medical,  Naval  and  Military  Schools,  are  an  honor  to  the 
nation,  and  the  surprise  and  admiration  of  foreigners. 

The  first  short  telegraph  line  was  built  in  1869 ;  now 
they  thread  Japan  in  every  direction.  Bell  telephones 
have  been  imported  into  the  country.  There  are  seven- 
teen hundred  miles  of  railroad,  covering  almost  the 
entire  length  of  the  main  island,  one  road  running  east 
and  west,  says  the  new  "  Handbook  for  Travellers  in 
Japan,"  just  written  by  Basil  Hall  Chamberlain  and 
W.  B.  Mason.  The  former  has  also  just  published 
"  Things  Japanese,"  a  mine  of  valuable  information. 

The  usual  mode  of  travel  is  by  the  jinrikisha,  in- 
vented in  1873,  a  small  carriage  with  two  high  wheels, 


MATTHEW  CALBBAITH  PERRY.  439 

and  a  pair  of  shafts,  in  which  are  one,  two,  or  three 
men  as  runners.  A  tolerably  good  runner,  says  Miss 
Bird,  can  trot  forty  miles  a  day,  at  the  rate  of  about 
four  miles  an  hour.  The  runners  do  not  live  on  an 
average  over  five  years;  and  this  unnatural  method  of 
life,  "  making  draught  animals  of  themselves,"  brings 
on  heart  and  lung  disease. 

"The  fleet  of  Japan,"  says  Mr.  Henry  Norman, 
"  numbers  some  of  the  finest  and  fastest  vessels  afloat. 
She  has  at  her  command  an  army  of  fifty  thousand 
highly  trained  and  perfectly  equipped  men  in  peace,  and 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  in  war.  .  .  .  The  arsenal 
at  Koishikawa  is  simply  Woolwich  on  a  smaller  scale,  and 
its  English  machinery  turns  out  one  hundred  rifles  and 
thirty  thousand  cartridges  (seventy  thousand  if  neces- 
sary) per  day.  .  .  .  The  Military  College  and  Academy 
are  models  of  such  institutions.  '  One  of  the  foremost 
of  similar  institutions  which  I  have  seen  in  the  world,' 
I  saw  that  General  Grant  had  written  in  the  visitors' 
book  of  one  of  them." 

The  first  newspaper,  according  to  Miss  Bird,  was 
started  in  1871.  Now  there  are  thirty -five  daily  papers 
in  Tokyo  alone,  a  city  of  one  million  three  hundred 
and  eighty-nine  thousand  people,  most  of  them  morning 
papers. 

Christianity  has  made  marked  progress  since  the 
opening  of  Japan.  The  life  of  the  noble  Japanese, 
Joseph  H.  Neesima,  by  Prof.  Arthur  Sherburne  Hardy, 
as  fascinating  as  a  novel,  is  an  illustration  of  what  one 
educated  Christian  can  do  for  his  native  land. 

Seeing  some  Christian  tracts  in  Chinese,  in  Tokio, 
Neesima  determined  to  come  to  America  and  study. 
He  managed  to  get  on  board  a  ship  bound  for  this  coun- 


410  MATTHEW  CALBRAITII  PERRY. 

try,  though  if  detected  the  punishment  for  leaving 
Japan  was  death.  ISTeesima  found  a  noble  man  of  means 
in  Boston,  the  Hon.  Alpheus  Hardy,  who  educated  him 
at  his  own  expense.  Later  he  accompanied  Mr.  Tanaka, 
the  Japanese  Minister  of  Education,  to  England,  France, 
Sweden,  Denmark,  Russia,  and  Germany,  to  ascertain 
the  best  methods  for  Japan  in  her  schools  and  colleges, 
and  then  went  back  to  his  oavu  people  to  found  a  great 
University  in  Kyoto,  now  having  about  six  hundred 
pupils,  and  to  preach  the  gospel.  The  Doshisha  School 
in  Kyoto,  established  in  1875,  has  about  twenty  buildings, 
including  thirteen  dormitories,  a  gymnasium,  a  chapel, 
library,  scientific  department,  etc. 

Among  the  last  words  of  Mr.  Neesima,  who  died 
Jan.  23,  1890,  at  the  age  of  forty-seven,  when  told  that 
his  friends  would  carry  on  the  work  at  the  college,  were, 
"Sufficient,  sufficient."  "And  at  twenty  minutes  past 
four,"  says  Mr.  Hardy,  "with  the  words,  ' Peace,  Joy, 
Heaven,'  on  his  lips,  entered  into  rest." 

The  procession  which  followed  him  to  the  grave  was 
a  mile  and  a  half  long,  the  bier  hidden  by  flowers,  which 
the  people  of  "the  flowery  kingdom"  love  so  well. 
Men  like  Joseph  Keesina  are  to  be  the  deliverance  of 
Japan  from  Shintoism  and  Buddhism. 

Japan  sends  us  her  silk  and  her  tea  to  the  amount  of 
many  million  dollars  annually.  Her  art  has  spread  over 
the  world.  Her  lacquered  ware,  with  its  five  coats  of 
varnish,  drawn  like  sap  from  the  lacquer-tree,  is 
universally    admired. 

Her  women  must  be  educated  and  elevated  till  the 
ideal  wifehood  is  possible  :  "  A  companion  in  solitude, 
a  father  in  advice,  a  mother  in  all  seasons  of  distress, 
a  rest  in  passing  through  life's  wilderness." 


MATTHEW  CALBRAITII  PERRY.  441 

Women  in  Japan  occupied  a  more  prominent  position 
formally  than  now.  Some  of  her  greatest  rulers  have 
been  women;  and  many  of  her  classics  are  the  work  of 
women,  written  about  1000  a.d.  Jingu  Kogo,  201-209 
a.d.,  who  conquered  Corea,  was  a  queen  of  great  abil- 
ity.    She  is  still  worshipped  in  many  of  the  temples. 

Japan  is  now  visited  by  thousands  of  foreigners  annu- 
ally. Her  flowers,  chrysanthemums,  wistarias,  camellias  ; 
her  neat  homes,  as  Sir  Edwin  Arnold  in  his  "  Japonica" 
says,  "cheap  to  build,  beautiful  in  appearance,  spotlessly 
pure,  and  with  proper  arrangements  eminently  salu- 
brious ;  "  her  hundreds  of  public  baths  ;  her  cheerful, 
active,  progressive  people,  are  all  an  interesting  study. 
Perry  opened  a  new  land  to  America,  and  his  name  will 
not  be  forgotten. 


GENERAL  A.  W.  GREELY  AND  OTHER 
ARCTIC  EXPLORERS. 


SEVERAL  Arctic  voyages,  since  the  sad  one  of  Sir 
John  Franklin,  have  been  most  interesting  and 
pathetic.  Many  explorers  have  striven  to  place  their 
flag  at  the  North  Pole. 

Captain  Weyprecht  of  Austria,  and  Lieutenant  Julius 
Payer,  in  the  Tegetthoff,  sailed  from  Bremerhaven,  Ger- 
many, June  13,  1872.  The  ship  was  beset  by  the  ice  off 
the  west  coast  of  Nova  Zembla,  where  the  men  remained 
on  her  for  two  winters,  and  then  abandoned  her.  Aug. 
31,  1873,  they  discovered  to  the  far  north,  above  Siberia, 
Franz  Joseph  Land.  They  made  a  sledge  journey  to 
82°  5',  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles  bej^ond  their 
ship,  naming  the  country  discovered,  Crown  Prince 
Rudolph  Land.  Here  they  planted  the  Austix>Hun- 
garian  flag.  An  appearance  of  land  beyond  83°  north 
latitude,  they  called  Petermann  Land. 

May  29,  1875,  Sir  George  S.  Nares  of  England  sailed 
in  the  Alert  and  Discovery  through  Smith  Sound  for 
the  North  Pole.  The  Discovery  was  left  in  latitude  81° 
44'  at  the  entrance  of  Lady  Franklin  Bay.  On  Sept.  1 
the  Alert  reached  82°  27',  a  higher  latitude  than  any 
other  ship  up  to  that  time  —  the  Polaris  reached  82°  16' 
—  when  she  was  met  by  solid  ice.  Here  she  remained 
for  eleven  months. 

442 


ARCTIC   EXPLORERS.  443 

From  this  point  their  sledging  parties  went  out,  the 
sledges  drawn  by  men  instead  of  dogs.  Grinnell  Land 
was  somewhat  explored  by  Lt.  Aldrich,  the  north-west 
coast  of  Greenland  by  Lt.  Beaumont,  while  one  party, 
under  Commodore  Albert  H.  Markham,  travelled  north 
on  the  frozen  sea,  and  reached  a  point  four  hundred 
miles  from  the  North  Pole,  latitude  83°  20'  26",  —  the 
highest  point  attained  up  to  that  date. 

Commodore  Markham  says  in  his  journal,  May  12, 
1876 :  "  We  had  some  severe  walking,  struggling 
through  snow  up  to  our  waists,  over  or  through  which 
the  labor  of  dragging  a  sledge  would  be  interminable, 
and  occasionally  almost  disappearing  through  cracks  and 
fissures,  until  twenty  minutes  to  noon  when  a  halt  was 
called.  .  .  . 

"At  noon  we  obtained  a  good  altitude,  and  proclaimed 
our  latitude  to  be  83°  20'  26"  N.,  exactly  399|  miles  from 
the  North  Pole.  On  this  being  duly  announced,  three 
cheers  were  given,  with  one  more  for  Captain  Nares : 
then  the  whole  party,  in  the  exuberance  of  their  spirits 
at  having  reached  their  turning-point,  sang  the  '  Union 
Jack  of  Old  England,'  and  the  '  Grand  Palaeocrystic 
Sledging  Chorus,'  winding  up  like  loyal  subjects  with 
'  God  save  the  Queen.'  " 

Several  of  Markham 's  men  were  disabled  by  scurvy. 
Oue  died,  and  eleven  of  the  original  seventeen  were 
brought  back  to  the  ship  on  relief  sledges. 

After  a  journey  full  of  hardship,  Captain  Nares 
returned  to  England  in  November,  1876. 

On  July  4,  1878,  Baron  Nordenskiold,  the  noted 
Swedish  scientist,  sailed  from  Gothenburg,  Sweden,  in 
the  Vega,  Captain  Palander  commanding,  hoping  to  make 
the  northeast  passage  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific. 


44-1  GENERAL   A.    W.    GREELY 

The  first  attempt  to  make  this  passage  ended  in  dis- 
aster. Sir  Hugh  Willoughby  sailed  from  England  with 
three  ships,  the  Bona  Esperanza,  in  which  was  Sir  Hugh, 
the  Edward  Bonaventure,  and  the  Bona  Confidentia,  in 
1553.  Sebastian  Cabot,  then  an  old  man,  superintended 
the  preparations  for  the  voyage. 

Two  of  the  vessels,  the  Edward  Bonaventure  having 
been  separated  from  them  hy  a  storm,  wintered  on  the 
coast  of  Russian  Lapland,  it  is  probable  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Varzina  River.  During  the  winter,  Sir  Hugh  and 
his  sixty-two  companions  all  perished,  doubtless  from 
scurvy.  A  Russian  fisherman  found  their  bodies  the 
following  year.  From  Sir  Hugh's  journal  it  was  ascer- 
tained that  most  were  alive  in  January,  1554.  The  two 
vessels  and  the  body  of  the  distinguished  commander 
were  sent  to  England  in  1555.  The  Bona  Esperanza  was 
soon  after  driven  by  a  storm  into  the  North  Sea,  and 
was  never  heard  from.  The  Edward  Bonaventure,  com- 
manded by  Richard  Chancellor,  returned  to  England  in 
1554  ;  in  1556  he  Avent  to  the  Dwina  River  with  a  Russian 
ambassador,  and  suite  of  sixteen  men,  and  goods  valued 
at  20,000  pounds.  The  vessel  was  wrecked  in  Aberdour 
Bay,  and  Chancellor,  his  wife,  and  seven  Russians  were 
drowned. 

The  Vega  made  a  most  interesting  and  successful 
voyage.  At  Goose  Land,  on  the  coast  of  Nova  Zembla, 
they  studied  the  habits  of  the  great  numbers  of  geese 
and  swans,  from  which  the  region  takes  its  name.  The 
nests  of  the  swans  are  so  large  that  they  can  be  seen  on 
the  open  plain  for  a  great  distance.  They  are  built  of 
moss,  plucked  up  from  about  the  nests.  The  female 
hatches  the  four  grayish- white  eggs,  while  the  male 
remains  near  by.     The  geese  build  their  nests  on  little 


A.    E.    NORDENSKIOLD. 


AND   OTHER  ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  445 

hillocks  close  to  the  small  lakes  which  abound  in  Goose 
Land. 

The  Samoyeds  in  European  Russia  proved  an  inter- 
esting study.  They  are  small  in  stature,  with  unkempt 
hair,  and,  like  the  Lapps,  live  largely  by  their  reindeer. 
A  rich  Samoyed  will  own  a  thousand  or  more.  They 
catch  whales  and  walrus,  and  barter  with  the  Russians. 

The  Samoyeds  sacrifice  animals  to  their  idols,  eating 
the  flesh  of  the  animals  which  are  offered,  and  making  a 
mound  of  their  bones.  At  the  sacrificial  feasts  they 
cover  the  mouths  of  the  idols  with  blood  and  brandy. 
In  their  graves  they  deposit  wooden  arrows,  an  axe, 
knife,  ornaments,  and  rolled  up  pieces  of  bark,  which 
the  occupant  is  supposed  to  need,  probably  to  light  fires 
in  the  other  world. 

Among  the  Siberian  natives,  clothes  were  sometimes 
found  hanging  on  a  bush  beside  the  graves,  and  among 
the  richer  natives,  some  rouble  notes  with  the  food,  that 
the  dead  might  have  ready  money  in  the  other  world  to 
purchase  what  they  need. 

The  Samoyed  has  one  or  more  wives.  "These  are 
considered  by  the  men,"  says  Baron  Nordenskiold,  "as 
having  equal  rights  with  themselves,  and  are  treated 
accordingly,  which  is  very  remarkable." 

In  these  Polar  Seas,  the  voyagers  found  innumerable 
flocks  of  birds,  especially  near  uninhabited  regions. 
The  eggs  of  the  little  auk,  or  rotge,  were  sometimes 
found  laid  upon  the  ice.  The  eggs  of  the  looms  —  each 
bird  lays  but  one  — are  laid  on  the  bare  rock.  The  birds 
often  quarrel  for  a  place  on  the  rock,  when  the  egg  is 
thus  precipitated  into  the  sea.  The  eider  builds  its  nests 
on  low  islands,  so  that  the  surrounding  water  prevents  the 
mountain  foxes  from  disturbing  it.     There   are   usually 


446  GENERAL  A.    W.    GREELY 

five  or  six  eggs  in  a  nest,  and  sometimes  more,  as  the 
eider  steals  eggs  from  other  birds.  The  nest  is  made 
of  soft,  rich  down,  which  is  better  than  that  obtained 
from  the  dead  birds.  When  the  mother  is  driven 
from  the  nest,  she  hastily  scrapes  the  down  over  her 
eggs,  so  that  they  may  not  be  visible.  The  nests  are 
so  close  together  that  it  is  difficult  to  avoid  stepping  on 
the  eggs. 

The  voyagers  found  Polar  bears  and  walruses  in  abun- 
dance. "  If  an  unarmed  man  falls  in  with  a  Polar  bear," 
says  Nordenskiold,  "some  rapid  movements  and  loud 
cries  are  generally  sufficient  to  put  him  to  flight,  but  if 
the  man  flies,  he  is  certain  to  have  the  bear  after  him  at 
full  speed.  If  the  bear  is  wounded,  he  always  takes 
to  flight.  He  often  lays  snow  upon  the  wound  with  his 
fore-paws ;  sometimes  in  his  death-struggles  he  scrapes 
with  his  forefeet  a  hole  in  the  snow,  in  which  he  buries 
his  head." 

Concerning  the  walrus,  which  is  hunted  for  its  skin, 
blubber,  and  oil,  Nordenskiold  says  :  "  When  the  walrus 
ox  gets  very  old,  he  swims  about  by  himself  as  a  solitary 
individual,  but  otherwise  animals  of  the  same  age  and  sex 
keep  together  in  large  herds.  The  young  walrus  long  fol- 
lows its  mother,  and  is  protected  by  her  with  evident  fond- 
ness and  very  conspicuous  maternal  affection.  Her  first 
care  when  she  is  pursued  is,  accordingly,  to  save  her 
young,  even  at  the  sacrifice  of  her  own  life.  .  .  .  How- 
ever eagerly  she  may  try  by  blows  and  cuffs  to  get  her 
young  under  water,  or  lead  her  pursuers  astray  by  diving 
with  it  under  her  forepaw,  she  is  generally  overtaken 
and  killed.  Such  a  hunt  is  truly  grim,  but  the  wal- 
rus-hunter knows  no  mercy  in  following  his  occupa- 
tion." 


AND   OTHER  ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  447 

The  mother  is  usually  lost  iu  the  water  after  being 
killed.  Sometimes  the  young  is  saved,  but  it  does  not 
live  long.  "  It  is  easily  tamed,"  says  Nordenskiold,  "  and 
soon  regards  its  keeper  with  warm  attachment.  It  seeks 
as  best  it  can  —  poorly  equipped  as  it  is  for  moving 
about  on  dry  land  —  to  follow  the  seamen  on  the  deck, 
and  gives  itself  no  rest  if  it  be  left  alone." 

Lieutenant  Greely  says  the  full-grown  walrus  is  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  feet  long,  with  a  small,  short  head. 
The  broad  fore  and  hind  paws  are  about  two  feet  long, 
and  the  tusks  of  adults  about  a  foot  and  a  half  long. 

The  white  whale  is  from  twelve  to  eighteen  feet  in 
length,  and  yields  not  far  from  a  thousand  pounds  of 
meat  and  blubber.  The  skin,  called  "  mattak  "  by  the 
Eskimos,  is  much  valued  as  an  anti-scorbutic. 

The  narwhal,  or  unicorn,  is  of  a  yellowish-white 
color,  and  has  a  long  tusk  projecting  from  the  left  side 
of  the  upper  jaw.  This  tusk  is  often  about  ten  feet 
long,  equal  to  the  length  of  the  body  of  the  animal.  It 
is  probably  used  by  the  narwhal  as  a  weapon. 

The  Vega  sailed  through  Kara  Sea  past  the  New 
Siberian  Islands.  Here  portions  of  the  skeletons  of  the 
extinct  mammoth  (elephant)  abound.  In  a  previous 
journey  in  1876,  Nordenskiold  found  on  the  Yenisei 
River  bones  and  some  fragments  of  hide  of  a  mammoth 
nearly  twenty-five  millimeters  (about  an  inch)  thick, 
which  had  been  imbedded  "  hundreds  of  thousands,  per- 
haps millions  of  years." 

In  Siberia  whole  animals  have  been  found  frozen  in 
the  earth,  with  "  solidified  blood,  flesh,  hide,  and  hair." 
In  1799  one  was  found  by  the  Tunguses  who  live  east 
of  the  Lena  River.  They  waited  five  years  for  the  ground 
to  thaw  so  that  the  salable  tusks  could  be  uncovered. 


448  GENERAL  A.    W    GUEELY 

Meantime  some  of  the  flesh  was  destroyed  by  dogs  and 
other  animals.  In  1806  the  skeleton,  part  of  the  hide, 
and  a  large  quantity  of  the  hair  a  foot  and  a  half  long, 
were  taken  away.  Parts  of  the  eye  could  still  be  clearly 
distinguished. 

In  1839  a  complete  mammoth  was  uncovered  by  a 
landslip  on  the  shore  of  a  lake  west  of  the  Yenisei  River. 
It  was  almost  entire,  even  a  black  tongue  hanging  out 
of  the  mouth. 

Nordenskiold  believes  that  the  climate  of  Siberia  was 
then  about  the  same  as  at  present,  from  the  leaves  of  the 
dwarf  birch,  northern  willows,  shells,  and  other  things 
found  in  the  earth  in  which  the  mammoths  were  imbedded. 
The  Vega  finally  found  herself  beset  by  the  ice,  and  went 
into  winter  quarters  in  Bering's  Strait,  just  beyond 
Koljutschin  Bay,  Nov.  25. 

They  found  the  natives,  the  Tchuktches  (or  Chukches), 
very  friendly,  and  glad  to  furnish  them  with  bear  and 
reindeer  meat  as  far  as  they  were  able.  "  The  vessel's 
tent-covered  deck,"  says  Nordenskiold,  "soon  became  a 
veritable  reception  saloon  for  the  whole  population  of 
the  neighborhood.  Dog-team  after  dog-team  stood  all 
day  in  rows,  or,  more  correctly,  lay  snowed  up  before  the 
ice-built  flight  of  steps  to  the  deck  of  the  Vega." 

A  native  who  had  lost  his  way  came  on  board  in  a 
blinding  snowstorm,  thermometer— 36°,  carrying  his  dog, 
frozen  stiff.  The  dog  was  for  hours  rubbed  and  warmed, 
and  finally,  to  the  amazement  of  all,  came  to  life  again. 

In  excursions  among  the  Tchuktches,  the  Vega  officers 
found  them  a  tall,  hardy  race,  kind  and  peaceable,  usually 
with  one  wife  for  each  husband.  "  Within  the  family 
the  most  remarkable  unanimity  prevails,  so  that  we  never 
heard  a  hard  word  exchanged,  either  between  man  and 


AND    OTHER   ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  449 

wife,  or  parents  and  children ;  .  .  .  the  power  of  the 
woman  appears  to  be  very  great.  In  making  the  more 
important  bargains,  even  about  weapons  and  hunting  im- 
plements, she  is,  as  a  rule,  consulted,  and  her  advice  is 
taken.  There  is  great  affection  in  the  families,  and  much 
caressing  of  children.  .  .  . 

"  Criminal  statistics  have  been  rendered  impossible 
for  want  of  crimes,  if  we  except  acts  of  violence  com. 
mitted  under  the  influence  of  liquor."  When  brandy  was 
first  offered  to  the  Tchuktches  by  Avhites,  the  taste 
was  most  obnoxious  to  them ;  but  they  soon  learned  to 
like  fire-water,  and  to  suffer  from  its  use. 

They  are  very  different  in  their  treatment  of  dogs 
from  the  Eskimos.  These  are  of  the  same  breed  as  the 
dogs  in  Danish  Greenland,  but  smaller.  "  As  watch- 
dogs," says  Nordenskiold,  "  they  have  not  been  required 
in  a  country  where  theft  or  robbery  appears  never  to 
take  place.  The  power  of  barking  they  have  therefore 
completely  lost,  or  perhaps  they  never  possessed  it."  The 
natives  at  first  were  much  frightened  by  the  bark  of  two 
Scotch  collies  on  the  Vega. 

When  the  Vega  officials  went  to  a  reindeer  camp  to 
purchase  some  of  the  herd  for  fresh  meat,  they  were 
refused,  even  when  tobacco,  bread,  rum,  and  even  guns, 
were  offered  in  exchange.  The  herd  of  fifty,  led  by  an 
old  reindeer  with  large  horns,  came  in  the  early  morning  to 
meet  the  master  of  the  house,  and  rubbed  his  nose  against 
the  Tchuktches's  hand.  The  herd  all  stood  in  order,  while 
the  man  took  each  reindeer  by  the  horns,  the  animal,  in 
turn,  rubbing  his  horns  against  the  man's  hands.  At  a 
given  sign  the  whole  herd  wheeled  and  went  back  to  its 
pasturage  on  the  hillside. 

Marco  Polo,  in  his  wonderful  travels  in  the  country  of 


450  GENERAL  A.    W.    GEEELY 

Kubla  Khan,  had  learned  somewhat  of  these  interesting 
people. 

The  breaking  up  of  the  ice  enabled  the  Vega  to  press 
forward  on  her  journey,  July  18,  1879.  She  passed  down 
Bering's  Strait  and  anchored  on  St.  Lawrence  Island. 
The  natives  first  saw  a  European,  June  27,  1816,  Otto 
von  Kotzebue,  after  whom  Kotzebue  Sound  was  named. 
When  invited  to  their  tents,  he  says,  "  a  dirty  skin  was 
spread  on  the  floor,  on  which  I  had  to  sit ;  and  then  they 
came  in  one  after  the  other,  embraced  me,  rubbed  their 
noses  hard  against  mine,  and  finished  their  caresses  by 
spitting  in  their  hands,  and  then  stroking  me  several 
times  over  the  face." 

The  next  stopping-place  was  Bering  Island,  named,  as 
also  the  strait,  for  a  Dane,  Vitus  Bering,  who,  after  seve- 
ral successful  voyages,  died  here  of  scurvy  in  December, 
1790.  Most  of  his  men  fell  victims  to  the  same  disease. 
The  island  was  at  that  time  inhabited  by  thousands  of 
foxes,  which  were  driven  away  by  the  men  with  sticks 
while  they  were  building  a  new  vessel  from  the  old  one 
which  had  been  stranded  on  the  beach. 

The  shore  was  covered  with  sea-otters,  which  had  no 
fear  of  men,  till  hundreds  of  them  were  caught.  George 
Wilhelm  Steller,  the  naturalist  of  the  Bering  expedi- 
tion, says,  "  The  male  and  female  are  much  attached  to 
each  other,  embrace  and  kiss  e  ach  other  like  men.  The 
female  is  also  very  fond  of  its  young.  When  attacked, 
she  never  leaves  it  in  the  lurch;  and  when  danger  is  not 
near,  she  plays  with  it  in  a  thousand  ways,  almost  like 
a  child-loving  mother  with  her  young  ones,  throws  it 
sometimes  up  in  the  air,  and  catches  it  with  her  fore- 
feet like  a  ball,  swims  about  with  it  in  her  bosom, 
throws  it  away  now  and  then  to  let  it  exercise  itself  in 


AND   OTHER  ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  451 

the  art  of  swimming,  but  takes  it  to  herself  with  kisses 
and  caresses  when  it  is  tired." 

The  Vega  arrived  at  Yokohama,  Japan,  Sept.  2, 
1879.  Their  journey  homeward  was  one  continued  ova- 
tion to  the  skilful  and  brave  navigators  who  were  the 
first  to  make  the  brilliant  northeast  passage. 

On  July  8,  1879,  the  Jeannette  sailed  from  San  Fran- 
cisco, in  the  attempt  to  reach  the  North  Pole  by  way  of 
Bering's  Strait.  She  was  under  command  of  Lieutenant 
George  W.  De  Long,  U.S.N.,  and  was  bought  and  fitted 
out  largely  at  the  expense  of  Mr.  James  Gordon  Bennett, 
of  the  New  York  Herald.  She  was  formerly  the  ship 
Pandora,  under  command  of  Captain  Allen  Young.  R.N. 
The  Jeannette  sailed  towards  Wrangell  Land  and  Herald 
Island,  north  of  Siberia,  and  in  a  few  weeks  was  fast  in 
the  ice-pack.  She  drifted  about  in  the  pack  helplessly 
for  two  years  (lacking  two  months),  and  was  crushed 
by  the  ice  June  13,  1881,  in  latitude  77  N.  longitude 
155  E. 

At  eleven  o'clock  at  night  all  that  was  possible  was 
removed  from  the  ship,  and  placed  in  three  boats,  while 
the  thirty-three  men  who  composed  the  ship's  party 
escaped  on  an  ice-floe.  The  ship  sunk,  five  hours  later, 
at  four  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  thirteenth. 

They  were  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  Si- 
berian Coast,  and  fifteen  hundred  miles  from  Yakutsk  on 
the  Lena  River.  They  hoped  to  reach  the  New  Siberian 
Islands,  and  then  go  by  boat  to  the  Lena  Delta. 

They  made  only  a  mile  and  one-half  in  the  knee-deep 
snow  in  the  first  three  hours.  One  of  the  men  fainted, 
and  several  were  ill  and  unfit  for  duty.  They  gained 
only  a  mile  or  two  a  day,  as  the  men  had  to  go  over  the 
road  thirteen  times  to  bring   up   supplies,  —  six   times 


452  GENERAL  A.    W.    GREELY 

empty-handed  and  seven  times  with  loads,  —  making 
twenty-six  miles  to  advance  two. 

Thaddeus  Island,  New  Siberia,  was  reached  Ang.  20, 
and  Sept.  12  the  Asiatic  coast  was  in  sight.  A 
severe  storm  came  up,  and  the  boats  were  separated. 
The  boat  under  command  of  Engineer  George  W.  Mel- 
ville and  Lieutenant  J.  W.  Danenhower,  after  a  perilous 
voyage  entered  one  of  the  eastern  mouths  of  the  Lena 
River,  and  Sept.  26,  fourteen  days  after  the  boats 
separated,  reached  a  small  village,  where  lived  some  Si- 
berian exiles. 

The  whole  company  were  in  a  wretched  condition. 
"  Our  legs,"  says  Melville  in  his  book,  "  In  the  Lena 
Delta,"  "  presented  a  terribly  swollen  appearance,  being 
frozen  from  the  knees  down ;  and  those  places  where 
they  had  previously  been  so  frozen  and  puffed  as  to 
burst  such  moccasins  as  were  not  already  in  tatters,  or 
force  the  seams  into  gaps  corresponding  to  the  cracks  in 
our  bleeding  hands  and  feet,  were  now  in  a  frightful 
condition.  The  blisters  and  sores  had  run  together,  and 
our  flesh  became  as  sodden  and  spongy  to  the  touch  as 
though  we  were  afflicted  with  the  scurvy." 

Two  men  at  the  little  village  started  on  the  long  jour- 
ney to  Bulun  to  tell  the  Russian  authorities  of  the  ar- 
rival of  the  Americans.  On  their  way  they  met  some 
natives  with  their  reindeer  sleds,  who  were  also  going  to 
Bulun,  with  two  men,  Nindemann  and  Noros,  who  had 
been  in  the  boat  with  De  Long.  These  two  had  left  De 
Long  Oct.  9,  in  a  starving  condition,  with  the  faint 
hope  that  they  might  reach  Bulun,  and  bring  relief  be- 
fore death  came. 

As  soon  as  word  was  brought  to  Melville,  he  started 
Nov.  5,  with  a   dog-team  to  their  aid.     The   two  sea- 


"X. 


GEORGE    W.    DE   LONG. 


AND   OTHER  ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  453 

men  were  too  ill  to  return,  but  they  described  the  route 
back  to  De  Long  as  best  they  could.  Twenty-live  days 
had  passed  since  De  Long's  men  were  sent,  and  it  was 
thought  probable  that  all  were  dead. 

Melville  searched  along  the  river  for  three  weeks,  in 
deep  snow,  with  dogs  and  men  exhausted,  rinding  the 
log-books  under  a  cache,  left  by  De  Long,  but  learning 
nothing  of  the  missing  part}'',  beyond  a  certain  point, 
where  the  trail  was  lost.  Most  reluctantly  he  gave  up 
the  search. 

In  early  spring,  March  16,  the  search  was  renewed; 
and  on  the  23d  the  bodies  of  the  missing  men  were  dis- 
covered. Captain  De  Long,  Surgeon  Ambler,  and  Ah  Sam, 
the  Chinese  cook,  were  found  beside  each  other  buried  in 
the  snow.  Four  poles  lashed  together,  projecting  from 
the  snow-drift  a  Remington  rifle  hung  across  the  forks 
of  the  sticks,  pointed  to  the  place  where  the  dead  lay. 

By  the  side  of  De  Long  was  his  note-book,  with  his 
last  feebly-written  words.  His  arm  protruded  above  the 
snow,  as  if  he  had  thrown  the  book  just  before  death, 
with  the  hope  that  it  might  be  found  by  some  person  to 
tell  the  pitiful  story.  "  He  lay  on  his  right  side,  with 
his  right  hand  under  his  cheek,  his  head  pointing  north, 
and  his  face  turned  to  the  west." 

Dr.  Ambler  lay  on  his  face,  and  had  bitten  into  his 
hand  in  his  agony,  and  the  snow  was  stained  with  his 
blood.  "None  of  the  three,"  says  Melville,  "  had  boots  or 
mittens  on,  their  legs  and  feet  being  covered  with  strips 
of  woollen  blanket  and  pieces  of  the  tent  cloth,  bound 
around  to  the  knees  with  bits  of  rope  and  the  waist- 
belts  of  their  comrades." 

This  record  of  De  Long's  showed  that  his  party  had 
landed   in  the    Lena  Delta,   Sept.    17  about  nincty-tive 


454  GENERAL   A.    W.    GREELY 

or  more  miles  from  the  nearest  settlement.  The  entry 
made  Sept.  19  read  :  "  Opened  our  last  can  of  pemmi- 
can,  and  so  cut  it  that  it  must  suffice  for  four  days'  food; 
then  we  are  at  the  end  of  our  provisions  and  must  eat 
the  dog  (the  last  of  the  forty),  unless  Providence  sends 
something  in  our  way.     When  the  dog  is  eaten  " ? 

Sept.  21  two  reindeer  were  shot.  Oct.  3  the  dog 
was  shot  for  food.  H.  H.  Erickson  had  now  become 
delirious,  and  soon  died.  Oct.  6  the  journal  reads : 
"As  to  burying  him,  I  cannot  dig  a  grave;  the  ground 
is  frozen,  and  I  have  nothing  to  dig  with.  There  is 
nothing  to  do  but  to  bury  him  in  the  river.  Sewed 
him  up  in  the  flags  of  the  tent,  and  covered  him  with 
my  flag.  Got  tea  ready,  and  with  one-half  ounce  alcohol 
we  will  try  to  make  out  to  bury  him.  But  we  are  all  so 
weak  that  I  do  not  see  how  we  are  going  to  move." 
Erickson  was  buried  in  the  river  at  12.40  p.m.,  the 
burial  service  read,  and  three  volleys  fired  over  him. 

"  Oct.  10,  eat  deerskin  scraps.  .  .  .  Nothing  for  sup- 
per except  a  spoonful  of  glycerine. 

"Oct.  14,  Friday.  Breakfast,  willow  tea.  Dinner, 
one-half  teaspoonful  sweet-oil  and  willow  tea.  Alexai 
shot  one  ptarmigan.     Had  soup. 

"  Oct.  15.    Breakfast,  willow  tea  and  two  old  boots. 

"Oct.  17.    Alexai  died,  covered  him  with  ensign.  .  .  . 

"Oct.  21,  one  hundred  and  thirty-first  day  (from 
leaving  ship).     Kaack  was  found  dead  at  midnight. 

"  Friday,  Oct.  28,  one  hundred  and  thirty-eighth  day. 
Iverson  died  during  early  morning. 

"  Saturday,  Oct.  29,  one  hundred  and  thirty-ninth  day. 
Dressier  died  during  the  night. 

"  Sunday,  Oct  30,  one  hundred  and  fortieth  day.  Boyd 
and  Gortz  died  during  the  night.     Mr.  Collins  dying." 


AND    OTHER  ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  455 

This  was  the  last  entry.  De  Long  probably  died  that 
day  or  the  next. 

The  twelve  were  all  dead  several  days  before  Mel- 
ville started  on  the  search,  Nov.  5.  The  bodies  were 
interred  by  Melville,  and  afterwards  brought  home  to 
the  United  States,  a  distance  of  twelve  thousand  one 
hundred  and  ninety-one  miles.  Everywhere  along  the 
route,  in  Asia,  Europe,  and  America,  the  bodies  of 
the  dead  heroes  were  treated  with  the  utmost  honor. 
They  were  followed  by  a  grand  procession  in  New  York 
on  Washington's  birthday,  1884,  and  tenderly  buried. 
The  third  boat  party,  under  Lieutenant  Charles  W. 
Chipp,  was  never  heard  from ;  probably  all  on  board 
perished  in  the  gale. 

Two  years  after  De  Long  sailed  in  the  Jeannette,  an 
expedition  was  sent  out  by  the  United  States  under 
Lieutenant  Adolphus  W.  Greely.  Through  Lieutenant 
Weyprecht  of  the  Austrian  navy,  the  United  States 
promised  to  unite  with  other  nations  in  establishing 
international  circumpolar  stations  in  the  interests  of 
science.  Magnetic  and  meteorological  investigations 
were  to  be  made  at  fourteen  different  points  by  eleven 
different  nations.  It  was  decided  to  make  one  station 
at  Lady  Franklin  Bay,  in  latitude  81°  44'  N.,  Congress 
appropriating  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  for  the  work 
at  this  place. 

Lieutenant  Greely  of  the  5th  U.  S.  Cavalry  was 
chosen  to  command  the  expedition. 

He  was  born  in  Newburyport,  Mass.,  March  27,  1844, 
and  was  therefore  at  the  time  of  starting,  1881,  thirty- 
seven  years  of  age.  He  was  fitted  for  college  at  the 
High  School  in  Newburyport,  graduating  in  1860,  at  a 
younger  age  than  any  before  him  save  one.     When  the 


456  GENERAL   A.    W.    G  RE  ELY 

Civil  War  broke  out,  the  lad  of  seventeen  desired  to  join 
the  40th  New  York  Volunteer  Infantry,  but  was  not 
received.  On  July  3,  1861,  he  was  enrolled  as  a  private 
in  Major  Ben.  Perley  Poore's  Rifle  Battalion,  of  the  19th 
Regiment,  Massachusetts  Volunteer  Infantry.  The  same 
year  he  was  made  a  corporal. 

He  distinguished  himself  for  brave  and  faithful  ser- 
vice during  our  Civil  War;  served  at  Ball's  Bluff,  at 
the  siege  of  Yorktown,  West  Point,  Fair  Oaks,  Peach 
Orchard ;  was  wounded  at  White  Oak  Swamp,  fought  at 
Malvern  Hill  and  Chantilly,  twice  wounded  at  Antietam 
and  lay  in'  the  hospital  for  two  months,  and  was  ap- 
pointed first  sergeant  at  Fredericksburg. 

In  February,  1863,  he  was  made  a  second  lieutenant 
under  the  lamented  Colonel  Robert  G.  Shaw,  in  the  54th 
Regiment  Massachusetts  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  later 
served  in  the  81st  United  States  Colored  Infantry.  He 
took  an  active  part  in  the  siege  of  Port  Hudson.  He 
was  made  first  lieutenant  April  11,  1864,  and  captain, 
March  26,  1865,  having  been  brevetted  major  United 
States  Volunteers,  March  13,  1865,  "  for  faithful  and 
meritorious  services  during  the  Avar."  Two  years  later, 
March  7, 1867,  Greely  was  appointed  second  lieutenant  in 
the  36th  Regular  Infantry,  and  served  with  his  regi- 
ment at  Fort  Sanders,  Fort  Bridger,  and  at  Salt  Lake 
City.  In  1873  he  determined  a  danger,  or  flood,  line  for 
the  Mississippi,  Missouri,  Ohio,  Cumberland,  and  Ten- 
nessee rivers,  which  has  made  it  possible  to  prevent,  in 
large  measure,  damage  from  high  waters. 

Two  years  later,  in  1875,  Greely  constructed  the  Texas 
division  of  military  telegraph  lines,  building,  in  eleven 
months,  eleven  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  line.  In  1876 
he  received  a  six  months'  relief  from  duty,  which  time 


AND   OTHER  ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  457 

he  spent  in  Europe,  mostly  in  France.  On  his  return 
he  gave  his  time  to  constructing  military  telegraph 
lines  in  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  Dakota,  and  Montana, 
and  in  examining  the  rivers  of  the  Pacific  coast  for  the 
establishing  of  danger  lines.  He  married,  June  20, 
1878,  when  he  was  thirty-five,  Henrietta  Hudson 
Nesmith,  daughter  of  Thomas  L.  Nesmith  of  San 
Diego,  Cal.,  formerly  of  New  York  City. 

Lieutenant  Greely  had  now  become  an  officer  in  the 
United  States  Artillery,  and  later  in  the  5th  Cavalry, 
doing  much  scientific  work  in  connection  with  the  sig- 
nal service.  It  was  therefore  fitting  that  he  should  be 
chosen  by  the  President  to  superintend  the  establishing 
of  a  signal  station  at  Lady  Franklin  Bay  in  1881. 

The  ship  Proteus,  of  six  hundred  and  nineteen  tons, 
built  at  Dundee  for  the  sealing  business,  was  chosen  to 
take  Lieutenant  Greely  and  his  party  of  twenty-five 
persons  in  all  to  their  home  in  the  far  north,  with  pro- 
visions for  three  years.  At  the  end  of  a  year  a  ship 
was  to  be  sent  to  them  with  supplies,  and  at  the  end  of 
the  second  year  a  second  relief  ship  with  stores;  and  if 
these  failed  to  reach  Greely,  he  was  not  to  remain  in  the 
Polar  regions  after  Sept.  1,  1883,  but  go  southward  by 
boat  until  the  relief  vessel  should  meet  him. 

On  July  7,  1881,  the  Proteus  sailed  away  with  her 
precious  freight  under  the  command  of  Captain  Richard 
Pike,  who  had  had  much  experience  in  ice  navigation  in 
the  seal-fishing  in  Labrador. 

She  took  with  her  the  hope  and  pride  of  many  fami- 
lies, who  bade  a  cheerful  good-by,  yet  with  aching 
hearts.  Lieutenant  F.  F.  Kislingbury  had  been  in  ser- 
vice for  fifteen  years,  was  a  brave  man  of  fine  ph}-sique 
and  mind,  "  and  never  spared  himself,"  as  Lieutenant 


458  GENERAL   A.    W.    G  RE  ELY 

Greely  said  in  his  report,  "  any  personal  exertion  which 
would  add  to  the  personal  comfort  or  pleasure  of  others." 

Lieutenant  James  B.  Lockwood,  the  son  of  Gen. 
Henry  H.  Lockwood  of  Maryland,  a  young  man  of 
twenty-nine,  the  idol  of  his  family,  had  been  eight  years 
in  service,  always  on  the  frontier  in  Arizona,  Nebraska, 
or  other  Western  States.  He  was  well  read,  a  good 
Spanish  scholar,  quite  skilled  in  music,  and  most  active 
in  mind  and  body,  "a  man,"  as  Greely  said,  "of  unvary- 
ing truthfulness,  good  judgment,  and  Christian  charity." 

Sergeant  Edward  Israel,  a  graduate  of  Ann  Arbor 
University,  a  young  man  of  means  and  ability,  was  the 
astronomer  of  the  expedition. 

Sergeant  George  W.  Rice,  a  lawyer  and  professional 
photographer  as  well,  was  a  young  man  of  promise,  and 
proved  most  valuable  to  the  expedition.  Sergeants 
Jewell  and  Ralston  had  served  long  and  faithfully  as 
meteorological  observers.  Sergeant  David  L.  Brainard 
of  the  2d  Cavalry,  twenty-five  years  old,  had  been  twice 
wounded  in  Indian  campaigns  under  General  Miles,  and 
Avas  a  man  of  unusual  force  of  character  and  honor. 

After  a  pleasant  passage,  the  Proteus  stopping  at 
Godhavn,  Greenland,  to  purchase  twelve  Eskimo  dogs 
and  food  for  them,  and  also  at  Ritenbenk  and  Uper- 
navik  for  nineteen  more  dogs  and  Eskimo  guides, 
the  Greely  party  crossed  Melville  Bay  without  acci- 
dent, reaching  Lady  Franklin  Bay  Aug.  12,  1881.  The 
Proteus  broke  her  way  through  nearly  two  miles  of 
heavy  ice,  some  of  it  ten  feet  thick,  to  reach  Discovery 
Bay  in  the  northern  part  of  Lady  Franklin  Bay,  where 
Greely  was  to  establish  his  quarters,  the  place  where 
the  English  ship  Discovery  had  wintered  in  1875-76. 

A  house  sixty  by  seventeen  feet  was  built  at  once,  and 


AND   OTHER   ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  459 

the  station  named  Fort  Conger,  in  honor  of  Senator  O. 
D.  Conger,  who  had  shown  much  interest  in  the  expedi- 
tion. Fourteen  musk-oxen  were  soon  killed,  and  their 
flesh  preserved  for  the  winter's  use.  Greely  wisely  pre- 
vented the  killing  of  more  than  was  for  their  absolute 
need,  having  no  sympathy  with  the  shooting  for  mere 
pleasure,  a  thing  which  seems  scarcely  possible  to  those 
who  love  animals. 

Although  the  surrounding  scenery  was  grand  in  many 
respects,  yet  far  from  home  and  friends  the  place 
could  not  be  other  than  desolate  after  a  time.  On  the 
borders  of  open  streams,  grasses  and  buttercups  were 
growing,  and  higher  up  on  the  glacier  drift  there  were 
countless  yellow  Arctic  poppies  in  blossom.  The  largest 
plant —  there  were  no  shrubs  —  was  the  creeping  Arctic 
willow,  about  a  foot  long  and  an  inch  above  the  ground. 

The  autumn  days  passed  rapidly  in  their  work. 
Observations  were  made  on  the  pressure  of  the  atmos- 
phere, the  direction  and  force  of  the  wind,  the  kind  and 
movement  of  clouds,  the  aurora  and  weather.  Some 
sledge  journeys  were  made;  but  the  sun  disappeared  from 
sight  Oct.  15,  and  they  were  left  in  darkness  for  one 
hundred  and  thirty-seven  days,  till  Feb.  28.  "  At  Fort 
Conger,"  says  Greely,  "  stars  were  to  be  seen  at  local 
noon  seven  days  after  the  sun  had  gone  for  the  winter, 
and  so  remained  visible  in  a  cloudless  sky  for  over  four 
months.  .  .  .  The  darkness  of  midday  at  Conger  was 
such  for  nearly  two  months  in  midwinter,  that  the  time 
could  not  be  told  from  a  watch  held  up  with  its  face  to 
the  south." 

From  the  long-continued  darkness,  their  faces  became 
a  yellowish-green  color,  and  they  were  irritable  in  tem- 
per, gloomy,  disinclined  to  eat,  and  indisposed   to  exer- 


460  GENERAL   A.    W.    GREELY 

tion.  Some  of  the  men  became  mentally  affected.  A 
tri-weekly  school  was  carried  on  by  Greely  throughout 
the  winter,  and  Lieutenant  Lockwood  edited  a  semi- 
monthly paper  called  the  Arctic  Moon.  It  died  in  two 
months  from  lack  of  interest. 

Lockwood  wrote  in  his  journal:  "Another  twenty- 
four  hours  of  this  interminable  night  nearly  gone ! 
Thank  God !  .  .  .  The  days  and  weeks  seem  weeks  and 
months  in  passing." 

Much  interest  was  taken  in  every  new  litter  of 
puppies,  as  was  but  natural,  removed  as  they  were  from 
everything  living.  Gypsy,  their  brightest  dog,  having 
lost  her  own  offspring,  "  improved  every  opportunity  in 
the  absence  of  their  own  mothers,  to  suckle  the  young 
in  other  litters."  One  puppy,  during  the  temporary 
abience  of  its  mother,  was  placed  with  another  litter, 
"but  it  was  pushed  away  by  the  indignant  parent,  who 
declined  any  addition  to  her  cares." 

About  the  middle  of  December  some  of  the  six  weeks' 
old  puppies,  running  out  into  an  atmosphere — 45° 
to  collect  bits  of  food  thrown  out,  were  actually 
frozen  to  the  ice,  and  had  to  be  cut  out  with  a  hatchet ! 

The  favorite  sleeping-place  for  the  clogs  was  the  ash- 
barrel,  or  where  the  ashes  had  been  strewn.  When  a 
dog  would  leave  his  place  to  attack  a  rival,  he  would 
lose  his  position  by  another  taking  it.  "  Sometimes," 
says  Greely,  "failing  to  dislodge  a  comrade  comfortably 
ensconced  on  the  coveted  barrel,  a  dog  jumped  on  top 
of  the  first  comer  and  curled  himself  up  contentedly. 
The  under  dog  knew  by  bitter  experience  that  to  quar- 
rel was  to  lose  his  bed,  and  remained  until  worn  out  by 
the  weight  of  his  rival." 

The  return  of  the  sun  was  most  heartily  welcomed. 


AND   OTHER   ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  461 

March  1,  Lockwood,  with  three  men  and  a  dog-sledge, 
started  for  Thank  God  Harbor,  preparatory  to  his  ap- 
proaching journey  towards  the  Pole.  They  visited  the 
grave  of  C.  F.  Hall,  and  also  that  of  the  two  Englishmen, 
Hand  and  Paul,  who  died  on  the  exploring  trip  under 
Lieutenant  Beaumont  of  the  Nares  expedition. 

Dr.  Pavy,  the  surgeon  of  the  party,  went  with  others 
to  Cape  Joseph  Henry ;  and  Greely,  with  Privates  Bie- 
derbick,  Connell,  and  Whisler,  journeyed  over  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  in  Grinnell  Land.  A  puppy  team 
of  eight,  born  at  Fort  Conger  in  November,  hauled  the 
first  load  of  three  hundred  and  fifty-five  pounds. 

They  explored  the  large  Lake  Hazen,  60  miles  long 
by  G  wide,  and  covering  300  square  miles ;  they  named 
after  Greely 's  wife,  the  Henrietta  Nesmith  Glacier, 
"a  mass  of  sheer,  solid  ice,  averaging  about  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  feet  in  height,"  of  crescent  shape,  and 
about  five  miles  from  hill  to  hill,  and  discovered  moun- 
tains and  rivers  unseen  before  by  man. 

Later  in  the  season  Greely  again  explored  Grinnell 
Land,  naming  the  highest  mountain  seen,  Mount  C.  A. 
Arthur.  He  says  in  his  "  Three  Years  of  Arctic  Service : " 
"  After  two  hours  of  steady  climbing,  I  reached  the  sum- 
mit of  the  mountain  in  a  worn-out  condition.  The  ba- 
rometer stood  at  25.35,  indicating  an  ascent  of  over 
eighteen  hundred  feet,  and  an  elevation  above  the  sea 
of  forty-five  hundred  feet. 

"  The  travelling  was  of  such  an  exhausting  character 
that  Sergeant  Lynn  was  unable  to  follow  ine  ;  and  after 
wading  about  a  half  mile  in  snow  four  feet  deep,  under- 
lain with  water  two  feet  deep,  he  was  so  worn  out  that  I 
sent  him  back  to  the  junction  of  the  brooks,  where  he 
was  ordered  to  await  my  return.     In  my  tired  condition, 


462  GENERAL  A.    W.   G  RE  ELY 

I  could  never  have  reached  the  top  except  as  a  matter  of 
honor  and  duty.  Frequently  I  crawled  on  my  hands  and 
knees  a  long  distance,  at  one  time  as  far  as  a  quarter  of 
a  mile.  At  times  I  threw  the  glasses  ahead  of  me,  so 
as  to  make  it  certain  I  should  proceed.  .  .  . 

"When  I  was  about  a  half  mile  from  the  top,  farther 
progress  seemed  impossible.  My  strength  failed  me,  my 
sight  dimmed,  and  my  throat  became  parched,  and  thirst 
intolerable,  while  perspiration  poured  off  me  profusely. 
I  revived  myself  by  rest,  and  by  eating  snow,  a  doubtful 
expedient  even  in  summer.  After  that  I  could  walk 
oidy  a  hundred,  and  later  fifty  steps  at  a  time,  but 
ii n ally  the  summit  was  reached. 

"■  As  I  had  been  travelling  for  over  five  hours  with  my 
boots  filled  with  ice-water,  kept  at  the  lowest  tempera- 
ture by  the  snow,  I  found  on  reaching  the  summit  of  the 
mountain,  that  my  left  foot  had  lost  all  sense  of  feeling, 
and  that  there  was  but  little  sensation  in  my  right. 
Knowing  the  danger  of  perishing  by  freezing,  I  kept 
moving  steadily,  as  that  was  my  only  safety." 

On  April  3  the  expedition  under  Lock  wood,  destined 
for  North  Greenland,  started  from  Fort  Conger.  There 
were  thirteen  men  in  the  party,  with  five  sledges. 
Lockwood  had  the  sledge  Antoinette,  with  a  team  of 
eight  dogs,  —  Ritenbenk,  the  king,  a  large  white  dog; 
Howler,  who  was  the  king  of  the  dogs  till  Ritenbenk 
usurped  his  position  ;  two  mother-dogs,  Black  Kooney 
and  White  Kooney;  and  Ask-him,  who  was  a  puppy 
when  purchased  in  Greenland.  Gypsy,  Boss,  and  Major 
completed  the  number.  Ritenbenk,  although  most 
useful,  was  a  thief  whenever  an  opportunity  offered  to 
get  food;  but  Howler  always  gave  the  alarm  by  un- 
earthly barking.     Howler  was  a  faithful  creature,  who 


AND   OTHER   ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  463 

never  shirked  in  his  work.  Indeed,  all  the  dogs  have 
contempt  for  an  idler,  and  have  been  known  to  pounce 
upon  one  of  their  number  who  would  not  do  his  full 
share  of  pulling  the  load,  and  kill  him. 

After  travelling  several  days,  and  enduring  much  in- 
tense cold,  with  severe  snow-storms,  so  unbearable  that 
they  sometimes  lay  in  their  fur  sleeping-bags  for  forty- 
five  hours,  several  of  the  party  became  disabled,  and  were 
obliged  to  return  to  camp.  The  bags  were  sometimes  so 
frozen  that  four  men  could  scarcely  open  them.  The 
wind  often  blew  over  the  tents,  and  once  the  dog-sledge 
with  its  load  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  was  lifted 
bodily  from  the  ground,  and  one  of  the  men,  Ralston, 
severely  injured  by  the  sledge  knocking  him  several 
yards.  They  dug  holes  in  snow-banks,  and  burrowed  in 
them,  when  it  was  impossible  to  go  forward.  Often 
they  cut  their  way  over  the  high,  hummocky  ice  with 
axes. 

May  29  Lockwood,  Brainard,  and  the  Eskimo  Fred- 
erick Christiansen  pushed  on  alone  with  the  dogs. 
Brainard  says  in  his  journal :  "  The  dogs  not  being  ac- 
customed to  hauling  such  heavy  weights,  sit  down  as 
soon  as  the  runners  cut  through  the  crust,  and  compla- 
cently watch  us  with  a  puzzled  expression,  until  we  lift 
the  sledge  bodily  and  place  it  on  the  firm  crust." 

Later  he  writes  :  "  After  camping,  the  dogs  were  run- 
ning about  like  ravenous  wolves,  gnawing  at  everything, 
and  badly  chewed  and  splintered  the  thermometer-box 
before  it  could  be  secured.  The  ptarmigan  lately  shot 
was  placed  on  the  ridge-pole  for  safety.  A  hasty  rush 
of  feet,  and  a  heavy  body  striking  violently  against  the 
lent,  caused  us  to  rush  out  to  investigate  this  commo- 
tion.    The  ptarmigan  was  missing.     A  few  feathers  in 


464  GENERAL  A.    W.    GREELY 

his  bloody  jaws  marked  the  king-dog,  Ritenbenk,  as  the 
thief,  notwithstanding  his  blank  look  of  innocence." 

At  another  time,  "  As  I  awoke,"  says  Lockwood,  "  a 
small  piece  of  pemmican  (our  only  remaining  dog-food) 
was  slowly  but  surely  moving  out  of  the  tent.  The 
phenomenon  astonished  me ;  and  rubbing  my  eyes,  I 
looked  more  carefully,  and  saw  Eitenbenk's  head  with- 
out his  body,  and  found  that  his  teeth  fixed  in  one 
corner  of  the  sack,  was  the  motive  power.  His  eyes 
were  fixed  steadily  on  me ;  but  head,  eyes,  and  teeth  van- 
ished as  I  looked.  He  had  burrowed  a  hole  through  the 
snow,  and  had  inserted  his  head  just  far  enough  into  the 
tent  to  lay  hold  of  a  corner  of  the  sack.  The  whole 
pack  are  ravenous,  and  eat  anything  and  everything, 
which  means  substantially  nothing  in  this  case." 

The  snow  was  now  so  deep,  up  to  their  thighs,  and 
the  ice  so  rough,  that  the  use  of  the  axe  was  constant. 
In  ten  hours,  however,  they  made  sixteen  miles. 

May  13,  after  a  severe  storm  lasting  for  four  days, 
they  reached  an  island,  which  Greely  afterwards  appro- 
priately named  Lockwood  Island,  the  highest  point 
(thus  far,  1893)  ever  reached  by  man.  The  land  to  the 
rear  towered  up  four  thousand  feet. 

Several  snow  buntings  were  flying  about,  and  there 
were  traces  of  the  hare,  lemming,  and  fox.  They  ascended 
the  summit  of  the  cape  on  Lockwood  Island,  about  two 
thousand  six  hundred  to  three  thousand  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea. 

"We  reached  the  top,"  says  Lockwood,  "  at  3.45  p.m., 
and  unfurled  the  American  flag  [Mrs.  Greely  had  made 
one  for  the  expedition]  to  the  breeze  in  latitude  83°  24'  1ST. 
The  summit  is  a  small  plateau,  narrow  but  extending 
back  to  the  south  to  broken,  snow-covered  heights.  .   .  . 


AND    OTHER  ARCTIC   EXPLORERS.  465 

The  horizon  beyond,  on  the  land  .side,  was  concealed  by 
numberless  snow-covered  mountains,  one  profile  over- 
lapping another,  and  all  so  merged  together,  on  account 
of  their  universal  covering  of  snow,  that  it  was  impos- 
sible to  detect  the  topography  of  the  region."  A  cape 
of  land  in  the  distance  was  called  Cape  Washington. 

For  sixty  miles  they  could  look  towards  the  Pole,  with 
not  a  trace  of  land  in  sight :  the  ice  appeared  to  be 
rubble.  It  is  probable  that  there  is  much  open  water 
beyond,  and,  as  Greely  says,  "  its  main  ice  moves  the 
entire  winter." 

"  The  north  polar  land  is,  I  believe,  of  limited  extent," 
says  Greely,  "  and  its  shores,  or  the  edges  of  its  glaciers, 
are  washed  by  a  sea,  which,  from  its  size  and  consequent 
high  temperature,  its  ceaseless  tides  and  stray  currents, 
can  never  be  entirely  ice-clad.  Nordenskiold  believes 
in  the  open  sea,  convinced  by  the  polar  pack  setting 
northward  from  Mussel  Bay  in  1872.  Kares  even  would 
seem  to  be  uncertain  on  this  point,  else  lie  never  would 
have  equipped  Commander  Markham  with  the  heavy 
boats  hauled  by  his  party  in  187G.  .  .  .  That  the  Teg- 
etthoff  and  Jeannette  drifted  northward  winter  as  well 
as  summer  is  confirmatory  evidence  of  an  "  open  polar 
sea."  Greely  does  not  believe  in  a  "  navigable  polar 
sea,"  and  thinks  "the  water-space  to  the  northward  can 
only  be  entered  in  extremely  favorable  years  by  the 
Spitzbergen  route." 

On  May  16  Lockwood  and  his  party  turned  towards 
Conger,  which  they  reached  June  1,  after  an  absence  of 
sixty  days.  They  had  travelled  over  a  thousand  and  sev- 
enty statute  miles,  the  outward  rate  two  and  one-tenth 
miles  per  hour,  and  the  homeward  two  and  three-tenths 
miles  per  hour. 


466  GENERAL  A.    \V.    GREELY 

"This  sledge-trip,"  says  Greely,  '-'must  stand  as  one 
of  the  greatest  in  Arctic  history,  considering  not  only 
the  high  latitude  and  the  low  temperature  in  which  it 
was  made,  but  also  the  length  of  the  journey,  and  the 
results  flowing  therefrom.  .  .  .  His  (Lockwood's)  dis- 
coveries extended  to  a  point  ninety-five  miles  along  the 
North  Greenland  coast  beyond  the  farthest  ever  seen  by 
his  predecessors,  to  which  should  be  added  about  thirty 
miles  of  coast-line  between  Capes  May  and  Britannia  not 
visible  to  Lieutenant  Beaumont  [a  point  near  Cape  May 
was  Beaumont's  farthest  when  he  was  turned  back  by 
the  death  of  his  men  by  scurvy]. 

"  The  results  of  Lockwood's  journey,  then,  consist  not 
in  the  mere  honor  of  displaying  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
four  miles  nearer  the  geographical  pole  than  the  flag  of 
any  other  nation,  but  in  adding  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  miles  of  coast-line  (not  including  several  hundred 
miles  of  inland  fjords)  to  Greenland,  and  in  extending 
the  mainland  over  a  degree  of  latitude  from  Cape  May 
northward  to  Cape  Washington."' 

Besides  this  honor  to  our  flag  and  nation,  an  honor 
which  England  had  held  for  nearly  three  centuries, 
young  Lock  wood  traversed  Grinnell  Land  from  east  to 
west,  as  well  as  the  interior,  and  covered  by  his  labors, 
as  Greely  says  in  his  official  report  to  the  government, 
"  from  Cape  Washington,  38°  W.  to  Arthur  Land,  83° 
W.  above  the  eightieth  parallel,  one-eighth  of  the  circle 
of  the  globe.  ...  If  bis  tragic  fate  awakened  the  sym- 
pathy of  the  world,  none  the  less  should  his  successful 
work  receive  recognition.  He  unfortunately  did  not 
return  for  merited  promotion." 

Fearless  of  danger,  persevering  in  the  greatest  difficul- 
ties,   as    modest    as    he    was    courageous,    the    name   of 


AND   OTHER  ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  4(37 

Lieutenant  Lockwood  will  always  be  honored  and  loved. 
With  him  was  associated  the  self-denying,  manly  Brain- 
ard,  but  for  whose  energy  and  aid  the  Greely  expedition 
might  have  left  only  its  starvation  record. 

The  summer  of  1882  passed  away,  and  the  party 
looked  in  vain  for  a  relief  ship  to  bring  provisions  and 
to  cheer  their  hearts  with  messages  from  home.  A 
relief  ship  had  been  sent,  but  of  course  they  did  not 
know  it. 

In  1882  Congress  appropriated  thirty-three  thousand 
dollars  to  send  a  ship  to  Greely.  The  Neptune  was 
chartered,  which  was  to  reach  Lady  Franklin  Bay  if 
possible,  and  if  not,  to  leave  two  caches,  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty  rations  each,  at  certain  points.  Besides  these 
rations,  the  Neptune  carried  two  thousand  pounds 
of  canned  meats,  two  thousand  five  hundred  pounds  of 
canned  fruits  and  vegetables,  six  tons  of  seal  meat,  three 
hundred  pounds  extract  of  coffee,  and  other  provisions. 

Mr.  William  M.  Beebe,  private  secretary  of  the  chief 
signal  officer,  was  sent  in  charge  of  provisions,  and 
William  Sopp  was  the  master  of  the  ship.  Six  times  th-3 
Neptune  tried  to  pass  through  the  ice  in  Kane  Sea  above 
Smith  Sound,  with  the  hope  of  reaching  Greely,  but 
each  time  she  was  baffled  by  the  ice.  Finally  the  two 
caches  of  rations  were  left  at  Cape  Sabine,  and  at  the. 
north  end  of  Littleton  Island,  and  she  returned  to  the 
United  States. 

Commander  W.  S.  Schley,  in  his  rescue  of  Greely, 
pertinently  says,  "For  some  unaccountable  reason,  the 
miscellaneous  provisions  Beebe  was  ordered  to  bring  back 
in  the  event  of  failing  to  reach  Lady  Franklin  Bay,  and 
which  he  actually  did  bring  back,  to  be  stored  at  St. 
Johns,  from    which    place    they  were   carried    up    next 


468  GENERAL  A.    W.    GREELY 

summer,  to  be  sunk  in  the  Proteus.  They  would  have 
kept  better  in  the  ice  upon  the  rocks  at  Sabine." 

The  acting  signal  officer,  Lieutenant  L.  V.  Caziarc,  in 
the  absence  of  General  Hazen,  had  given  orders  "  You 
will  return  the  vessel  and  the  remainder  of  the  stores  to 
Saint  Johns."  Had  they  been  left  at  Sabine,  there  would 
probably  have  been  no  Greely  tragedy  to  arouse  the 
sympathies  of  the  world. 

All  summer  long  the  men  looked  and  waited  for  the 
ship.  Lockwood  writes  in  his  journal :  "  I  find  myself 
constantly  reading  over  old  letters  brought  with  me,  and 
received  at  St.  Johns,  though  read  before  again  and 
again.  The  effect  is  depressing,  bringing  too  strongly 
into  view  home  and  the  dear  ones  there.  I  am  oppressed 
with  ennui  and  low  spirits,  and  can't  shake  off  this  feel- 
ing, partly  induced  by  the  cruel  disappointment  of  no 
ship." 

Later  he  wrote  :  "  Have  been  reading  of  Kane  and 
his  travels.  He  is  my  beau  ideal  of  an  Arctic  traveller. 
How  pitiful  that  so  bold  a  spirit  Avas  incased  in  so  fee- 
ble a  frame  !     TVhy  is  nature  inconsistent '!  " 

Again  he  wrote  :  "  The  life  we  are  now  leading  is 
somewhat  similar  to  that  of  a  prisoner  in  the  Bastile  : 
no  amusements,  no  recreations,  no  event  to  wreck  the 
monotony  or  dispel  ennui.  I  take  a  long  walk  every 
day  along  shore  to  North  Valley  with  that  view,  study 
French  a  little,  or  do  some  tailoring,  now  doubly  neces- 
sary, as  our  supply  of  clothing  is  getting  low.  ...  I 
must  go  on  another  sledge-journey  to  dispel  this  gloom." 

The  men  amused  themselves  with  their  efforts  to  rear 
the  four  young  musk-oxen,  which  had  been  taken  alive 
when  the  older  ones  were  shot.  Three  of  the  dogs  nearly 
killed  "John  Henry,"  the  youngest  of  the  calves;  and 


AND   OTHER  ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  4G9 

the  others,  though  tame  and  most  .affectionate,  being 
unused  to  the  new  and  strange  conditions,  soon  died. 

"  Tame  foxes  and  tame  owls,"  wrote  Lockwood,  "  have 
also  been  given  up.  The  former  bit  their  keepers,  the 
latter  ate  each  other  up." 

"  The  tame  fox,  Reuben, "  wrote  Greely  in  his  journal, 
"after  running  away,  has  amused  himself  for  a  long 
time  by  catching  supplies  of  extra  meat.  He  was  out 
once  near  the  dogs,  and  a  one-month  puppy  coming  up, 
the  fox  caught  him  by  the  nose  and  sent  him  away 
yelping.  He  seemed  lately  to  have  but  little  fear  of 
the  dogs." 

Greely  finally  gave  up  looking  for  the  relief  ship  in 
1882,  and  wrote  in  his  journal,  Aug.  25:  "Artificial 
light  will  soon  be  needed.  I  have  quite  given  up  the 
ship,  as  indeed  have  most  of  the  men.  I  hope  against 
hope,  and  defer  going  on  an  allowance  of  our  remain- 
ing stock  of  vegetables  until  Sept.  1.  We  have  enough 
of  them,  but  in  the  matter  of  vegetables  we  must  live 
much  more  simply  than  the  past  year." 

The  second  Arctic  winter  was  not  passed  so  happily 
as  the  first.  Lieutenant  Greely  interested  the  men 
by  scientific  and  historical  lectures,  or  talks  regarding 
the  battles  of  the  Civil  War,  while  others  spoke  on 
astronomy  or  other  matters  with  which  they  were  most 
familiar. 

The  spring  of  1883  was  most  welcome,  though  Greely 
notes  in  his  journal:  "Perfect  ease  of  mind  cannot 
come  until  a  ship  is  again  seen." 

The  dogs  had  been  cared  for  as  well  as  possible,  as 
North  Greenland  was  to  be  again  explored,  and  the  jour- 
ney was  long  and  hazardous.  They  were  not  fed  as  well 
as  Greely  wished ;  for  he  had  no  food  but  "  pork,  beef, 


470  GENERAL  A.    W.    GREELY 

and  fish  (all  salt)..  Their  food,"  he  says,  "has  always 
been  thoroughly  soaked  and  freshened,  and,  what  I  con- 
sider an  important  point,  always  fed  to  them  in  an  un- 
frozen and  generally  warm  condition.  Hard  bread  has 
been  given  to  as  many  as  would  eat  it,  which  includes 
the  puppies  raised  here,  and  one  or  two  of  the  old  dogs. 
Most  of  the  Greenland  dogs  will  not  touch  bread  even 
when  hungry." 

Lockwood  and  others,  with  twenty  dogs,  started  on 
another  Greenland  journey,  March  27,  but  returned  in  a 
few  days,  disappointed,  as  they  Avere  prevented  from 
going  forward  at  Beach  Horn  Cliffs,  by  a  great  body  of 
open  water,  several  miles  wide. 

Lockwood  then  started  on  his  month's  trip  across  Grin- 
nell  Land,  discovering  and  naming  Greely  Fjord  between 
sixty  and  eighty  miles  long,  and  fifteen  miles  wide,  and 
the  two  bays  at  its  head,  after  Greely's  daughters, 
Adola  and  Antoinette.  "No  such  word  as  'failed'  to 
write  this  time,"  says  Lockwood,  "  I  am  thankful  to  say ; 
but  the  happy  reflection  is  mine  that  I  accomplished 
more  than  any  one  expected,  and  more  than  I  myself 
dared  hope  —  the  discovery  of  the  western  sea,  and 
nence  the  western  coast  line  of  Grinnell  Land."  The 
journey  was  laborious.  Some  of  the  dogs  had  to  be 
shot  to  provide  food  for  their  co-workers.  One  dog, 
Disco  King,  drew  his  load  till  completely  exhausted, 
and  died  with  Fort  Conger  in  sight,  being  unable  to 
crawl  thither  after  being  released  from  the  harness. 

As  the  summer  of  1883  waned,  everybody  looked 
eagerly  for  the  expected  relief  ship.  There  could  be 
little  doubt,  this  time,  as  on  the  previous  year.  Yet 
Greely  wisely  made  provision  for  his  retreat  southward, 
in  case  the  ship  did  not  come. 


AND    OTHER    ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  471 

June,  July,  and  August  passed,  and  in  vain  they  strained 
their  eyes  for  the  coming-  ship.  Now  they  thought  they 
saw  the  smoke  of  a  vessel  sailing  up  the  icy  passage,  but 
hope  always  gave  way  to  disappointment.  It  almost 
seemed  as  though  America  had  forgotten  her  explorers. 
They  could  not  know  that  the  aid  intended  for  them 
was  in  the  bottom  of  the  sea. 

Greely,  with  a  foresight  which  seemed  almost  pro- 
phetic, had  left  explicit  directions  for  the  relief  ships. 
If  the  vessels  could  not  reach  Fort  Conger  in  Discovery 
Bay,  they  were  to  land  provisions  for  forty  men  for 
fifteen  months  at  the  farthest  point  possible  on  the  cast. 
coast  of  Grinnell  Land,  and  also  at  Littleton  Island,  and 
"  establish  a  winter  station  at  Polaris  winter  quarters, 
Lifeboat  Cave,  when  their  main  duty  would  be  to  keep 
their  telescopes  on  Cape  Sabine,  and  to  the  land  north- 
ward." 

Two  vessels,  the  Proteus,  under  Lieutenant  E.  A.  Gar- 
lington  of  the  7th  U.  S.  Cavalry,  the  same  vessel  in 
which  the  Greely  party  had  sailed  in  1881,  and  the 
Yantic  under  Commander  Frank  Wildes  of  the  LT.  S. 
Navy,  sailed  from  St.  Johns,  Newfoundland,  June  21, 
1883,  on  their  returning  expedition.  The  Proteus  had  a 
fair  passage  through  the  ice  of  Melville  Bay,  touched  at 
south-east  Cary  Island,  and  examined  the  Nares  cache  of 
1800  rations,  left  a  record  at  Pandora  Harbor  on  the 
east  side  of  Smith  Sound,  and  being  met  by  the  ice  pack. 
anchored  in  Payer  Harbor  on  the  west  coast  of  Smith 
Sound.  She  remained  at  Cape  Sabine  four  hours  and  a 
half;  but  did  not  leave  provisions  (which  would  have 
saved  so  much  starvation  later  on)  through  conflicting 
directions  from  officials^  an  unsigned  memorandum 
ordering  that  provisions  should  be  left  on  the  way  north, 


172  GENERAL   A.    W.    G  RE  ELY 

and  a  verbal  statement  from  the  chief  signal  officer,  that 
this  memorandum  "  was  no  part  of  his  orders." 

Garlington  was  to  examine  caches,  and  replace  any 
damaged  articles  of  food.  He  examined  the  Beebe  cache 
left  by  the  steamer  Neptune,  but  not  the  Nares  cache 
on  Stalknecht  Island,  a  half  mile  away,  which  he 
said  was  "  in  a  damaged  condition,"  and  which,  unfortu- 
nately, he  did  not  replace. 

The  next  day,  while  near  Cape  Albert  on  the  west 
coast  of  Kane  Sea,  above  Smith  Sound,  the  Proteus  was 
crushed  by  ice  seven  feet  thick,  and  went  down  on  the 
evening  of  July  23.  Some  of  the  provisions  were  thrown 
overboard ;  but  in  the  hurry,  a  third  of  these  were  lost 
by  falling  too  near  the  ship.  The  crew  were  uncontrol- 
lable, and  pillaged  for  themselves. 

One  of  the  whale-boats  was  loaded  with  provisions, 
estimated  at  five  hundred  rations,  and  taken  by  Lieutenant 
Col  well  of  the  navy  to  a  point  four  miles  west  of  Cape 
Sabine,  known  as  the  "  Wreck-camp  cache."  Greely 
found  only  one  hundred  rations  of  meat  when  his  men 
were  starving,  and  was  greatly  disappointed. 

The  stores  of  the  Proteus  being  lost,  her  men  could  not 
winter  at  Lifeboat  Cave,  unless  the  Yantic,  which  was 
a  relieving  boat  to  the  Proteus,  and  not  fitted  for  passing 
through  the  ice,  could  be  reached,  and  food  obtained. 

By  a  series  of  the  most  unfortunate  misunderstand- 
ings, the  two  commanders,  Garlington  and  Wildes,  failed 
to  reach  each  other,  one  always  having  left  a  certain 
specified  point  agreed  upon  when  the  other  arrived. 

If  the  Yantic  reached  Littleton  Island,  as  she  had 
been  instructed,  Garlington  would  remain  for  the  winter 
at  Lifeboat  Cave,  close  by.  He  thought  she  would  not 
come  from  the  condition  of  the  ice.     She  did  come  six 


AND   OTHER  ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  473 

days  after  his  departure,  and  not  finding  Garlington,  her 
provisions  were  not  left,  and  she  started  to  seek  him  and 
his  men.  Had  her  provisions  been  cached  at  Littleton 
Island,  and  a  party  of  volunteers  left  with  them,  the 
horrors  of  the  next  winter  might  have  been  avoided. 
As  Garlington  had  with  him  in  his  boats  forty  days' 
rations  for  fifteen  men,  the  provisions  of  the  Yantic 
could  easily  have  been  spared. 

Lieutenant  Colwell,  after  a  perilous  boat  journey  across 
Melville  Bay,  reached  Disko,  eight  hundred  miles,  with 
his  exhausted  party.  They  as  Avell  as  Garlington  and 
the  crew  were  rescued  by  the  Yantic,  and  brought  to  St. 
Johns,  Newfoundland. 

The  whole  country  was  saddened  at  the  failure  to  help 
Greely.  The  question  on  every  side  was,  "  What  can 
be  done  for  his  relief  ?  "  Of  fifty  thousand  rations  taken 
up  to  or  beyond  Littleton  Island  by  the  steamers  Nep- 
tune, Yantic,  and  Proteus,  '"'only  about  one  thousand 
were  left  in  that  vicinity,  the  remainder  being  returned 
to  the  United  States,  or  sunk  with  the  Proteus." 

In  the  letter  left  by  Garlington  at  Cape  Sabine,  for 
Greely,  he  had  assured  the  latter  that  "  everything 
within  the  power  of  man  will  be  done  to  rescue  the  brave 
men  at  Fort  Conger  from  their  perilous  position."  How- 
ever, when  the  Yantic  returned  about  the  middle  of  Sep- 
tember, it  was  deemed  inexpedient  to  send  any  other 
relief  ship  that  fall.  The  residt  of  that  decision  was 
pitiful  in  the  extreme.  Of  course  another  vessel  might, 
not  have  reached  the  sufferers;  though  Greely,  Melville, 
and  some  others,  believed  relief  was  practicable  in 
the  fall  of  18815.  "  Had  a  stout  sealer,"  ."ays  Greely, 
"and  there  were  many  available  —  left  St.  Johns,  under 
a  compet;  nt  officer,  within  ten  days  after  the  return  of 


47-1  GENERAL   A.    W.    GREELY 

the  Yantic,  the  entire  Lady  Franklin  Bay  Expedition,  in 
my  opinion,  would  have  returned." 

Meantime,  what  had  become  of  Lieutenant  Greely  and 
his  brave  men,  waiting  two  whole  years  for  the  prom- 
ised ships  ?  He  well  says  in  his  "Three  Years  of  Arc- 
tic Service  "  :  "  My  journal  shows  that  I  looked  forward 
to  privation,  partial  starvation,  and  possible  death  for 
a  few  of  the  weakest,  but  I  expected  no  such  thing  as 
an  abandonment  to  our  fate." 

When  the  8th  of  August  came,  and  no  ship  had  been 
seen,  the  Greely  party  of  twenty -five  men,  according  to 
previous  instructions,  started  on  their  retreat  toward 
the  south,  in  four  boats,  the  steam  yacht  Lady  Greely, 
the  whale-boat  Narwhal,  English  ice-boat  Beaumont, 
the  English  boat,  Valorous,  with  a  small  boat  for  special 
use. 

The  poor  dogs,  to  whom  all  were  greatly  attached,  were 
left  behind,  as  they  could  not  well  be  killed ;  for  if  the 
party  should  be  obliged  to  return  to  Fort  Conger,  their 
help  would  be  needed.  Several  barrels  of  seal  blubber, 
fresh  beef,  and  bread,  were  opened,  so  that  they  could  live 
for  some  months  before  starvation  came.  A  pitiful  voy- 
age lay  before  their  masters  —  and  probably  a  pitiful 
death  for  them. 

The  journey  from  the  first  was  a  most  dangerous  one. 
Ice  blocked  their  way,  storms  assailed  them,  and  heavy 
fogs  prevented  their  progress. 

"As  the  midnight  sun,"  says  Greely,  "struggled 
through  the  distorted  masses  of  angry  clouds,  we  turned 
our  prows  into  Kennedy  Channel  —  to  the  southward, 
and,  we  hoped,  to  safety.  .  .  . 

"  And  so  Ave  turned  homeward,  knowing  we  had  the 
courage  to  face  the  blinding  gale,  the  heavy  floes,  the 


AND   OTHER   ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  475 

grinding  pack,  the  countless  other  dangers  which  environ 
the  Arctic  navigator;  and  having  also,  though  we  knew 
it  not,  heart  and  courage  to  encounter  uncomplainingly, 
on  barren  crags,  the  hardships  and  horrors  of  an  Arctic 
winter,  with  scant  food,  shelter,  and  clothing,  with  neither 
fire,  light,  nor  warmth,  and  to  face  undauntedly  intense 
cold  and  bitter  frost,  disaster  and  slow  starvation,  insan- 
ity and  death."  Snow  fell  to  the  depth  of  several  inches 
m  these  early  August  days.  Now  the  men  cut  their  way 
with  axes  through  the  solid  ice.  "  Four  hours'  cutting, 
charging,  rolling,  etc.,  worked  wonders,"  says  Greely  in 
his  journal,  "and,  as  the  result  of  our  exhaustive  labors, 
the  launch  was  got  to  open  water." 

Now  they  passed  through  the  middle  of  an  immense  ice- 
berg, it  having  split  so  that  there  was  a  passage  scarcely 
a  dozen  feet  wide  and  a  hundred  yards  long,  while  the 
ice  rose  above  them  on  either  side  fifty  feet  high. 

Sometimes  the  boats  were  caught  between  the  great 
moving  pack  of  ice,  and  the  ice-foot,  ten  feet  high,  along 
the  shore.  At  Cape  Hawks  they  stopped  to  obtain  the 
food  from  the  English  cache.  The  bread,  which  was  m 
casks,  was  covered  with  green,  slimy  mould,  and  would 
have  been  thrown  away  except  for  the  possible  privations 
in  the  future.  The  barrels  and  casks  were  broken  up  to 
be  used  for  steam  on  the  launch,  as  they  had  little  fuel 
left. 

Aug.  2G,  the  new  ice  having  now  become  three  inches 
thick  from  the  severity  of  the  weather,  the  Lady  Greely 
launch  was  held  fast  in  the  ice.  After  being  beset 
fifteen  days,  during,  which  time  she  drifted  twenty- 
two  miles  to  the  southward,  she  Avas  abandoned,  and  the 
Greely  party  started  on  the  ice  with  their  sledges. 
Greely  and  thirteeen  others  dragged  the  ice-boat  Valor- 


476  GENERAL   A.    W.    GREELY 

cms  with  six  hundred  pounds  other  weight,  Lieutenant 
Kislingbury  and  five  men  another  sledge,  and  seven  hun- 
dred pounds,  and  Sergeant  Jewell  with  three  men, 
another.  One  sledge  broke  down  and  had  to  be 
abandoned. 

They  camped  on  a  floe  in  a  severe  snow-storm.  Some- 
times they  fancied  they  saw  smoke  rising,  or  heard  a 
dog  bark,  but  the  faint  hope  soon  died  out.  They  had 
journeyed  over  four  hundred  miles,  and  the  prospects 
were  not  brightening.  Darkness  was  coming  on.  The 
floe  on  which  they  were  camping  was  drifting  away 
from  the  shore  which  they  were  endeavoring  to  reach. 
Between  them  and  the  distant  shore  the  waves  were  so 
high  that  no  small  boats  could  live  in  them. 

The  thoughts  of  the  men  turned  towards  home. 
Lockwood  wrote  in  his  journal :  "  I  wonder  what  they 
are  doing  at  home.  How  often  I  think  of  the  dear  ones 
there.  The  dangers  and  the  uncertainties  ahead  of  us 
are  not  alleviated  by  the  thought  of  the  concern  felt  on 
my  account  by  those  at  home.  Most  of  us,  I  think, 
have  given  up  the  idea  of  getting  home  this  fall.  I 
dread  another  winter  in  this  country  more  than  I  do 
anything  else.  .  .  . 

"  The  outlook  at  present  is  rather  gloomy.  However, 
if  there  is  help  at  Sabine,  we  are  all  right.  Indeed,  if 
there  is  help  at  Littleton  Island,  we  ought  not  to  despair 
of  reaching  it,  working  as  we  are  for  our  lives." 

Later  he  writes:  "God  knows  what  the  end  of  all 
this  will  be.  I  see  nothing  but  starvation  and  death. 
The  spirits  of  the  party,  however,  are  remarkably  good." 

Perhaps  it  was  well  that  they  did  not  then  know  that 
there  was  help  neither  at  Sabine  nor  Littleton  Island, 
but  that  it  was  being  carried  safely  back  to  St.  Johns 
in  the  Yantic. 


AND    OTHER   ARCTIC  EXPLORERS  477 

Finally,  Sept.  29,  after  five  hundred  miles  of  travel 
by  boat  and  sledge,  they  readied  a  point  a  few  miles 
below  Cape  Sabine,  which  Greely  called  Eskimo  Point, 
because  in  former  years  Eskimos  had  lived  there. 

As  it  was  impossible  to  cross  Smith  Sound  to  Little- 
ton Island  by  reason  of  the  high  tide  and  thick  ice,  it 
was  decided  to  build  winter  huts  of  stone,  the  roofs 
covered  with  moss,  and  four  inches  of  moss  for  the  floor, 
which  they  gathered  under  the  snow. 

Lockwood  wrote  in  his  journal :  "  We  find  it  very  severe 
work  building  with  these  rocks.  We  are  all  weak,  and 
the  rocks  are  granite,  very  heavy,  and  not  easily  obtain- 
able. .  .  .  We  have  now  three  chances  for  our  lives  . 
First,  finding  American  cache  sufficient  at  Sabine  or  at 
Isabella;  second,  of  crossing  the  straits  when  our  pres- 
ent rations  are  gone;  third,  of  shooting  sufficient  seal 
and  walrus  near  by  here  to  last  during  the  winter.  Our 
situation  is  certainly  alarming  in  the  extreme.  ...  A 
miserable  existence,  only  preferable  to  death." 

Greely  wrote  in  his  journal :  "  My  hands  are  bruised, 
bleeding,  and  swollen,  joints  stiff  and  sore,  clothing 
badly  torn,  hand  and  foot  gear  full  of  holes,  and  my 
back  so  lame  I  cannot  stand  erect.  The  work  has  taxed 
to  the  utmost  limit  my  physical  powers,  already  worn 
by  mental  anxiety  and  responsibility.  All  the  officers 
have  worked  with  the  same  assiduity  and  constancy." 

"  Oct.  7.  Mrs.  Greely's  birthday ;  a  sorry  day  for 
her,  and  a  hard  day  for  me,  to  reflect  on  the  position  of 
my  wife  and  children  should  this  expedition  perish  as 
did  Franklin's.  However,  I  hope  in  faith  that  we  shall 
succeed  in  returning.  We  will  at  least  place  our  records 
where  our  work  will  live  after  us." 

These  were  placed  under  a  cairn  on  Stalknecht  Island. 


^78  GENERAL   A     W.    GREELY 

Sergeant  Rice  and  Eskimo  Jens  were  sent  to  Sabine, 
and  returned  with  the  letter  left  there  by  Garlington, 
telling  of  the  wreck  of  the  Proteus,  and  the  efforts 
that  would  be  made  for  the  rescue  of  the  party.  Rice 
found  the  three  caches  of  provisions,  the  English,  the 
Beebe  of  1882  from  the  Neptune,  and  the  wreck-cache 
of  the  Proteus.  As  Greely  could  not  move  these  from 
Sabine,  he  decided  to  cross  thither  by  sledges  and 
"  await  the  promised  help,"  as  he  says. 

"  I  am  fully  aware  of  the  very  dangerous  situation  we 
are  now  in,"  writes  Greely  in  his  journal,  "and  foresee 
a  winter  of  starvation,  suffering,  and  probably  death  for 
some.  The  question  is,  did  the  Yantic  reach  Littleton 
Island?  if  so,  we  are  safe.  Our  fuel  is  so  scanty  that 
we  are  in  danger  of  perishing  for  want  of  that  alone." 

The  Yantic,  as  we  now  know,  did  reach  Littleton 
Island,  but  left  no  provisions  for  the  starving  party. 

"We  now  had  four  boats,"  says  Greely,  "and,  al- 
though the  sun  was  about  leaving  us  for  the  winter, 
we  could  yet  travel  southward,  there  being  open  water 
visible  at  Cape  Isabella.  Had  I  been  plainly  told  that 
we  must  now  depend  upon  ourselves,  that  trouble  and 
lack  of  discipline  prevailed  among  the  Proteus's  crew, 
that  the  Yantic  was  a  fair-weather  ship,  and  that  its 
commander  and  lieutenant  were  acting  independently 
of  each  other,  I  should  certainly  have  turned  my  back 
to  Cape  Sabine  and  starvation,  to  face  a  possible  death 
on  the  perilous  voyage  along  shore  to  the  southward." 

As  most  of  the  party  felt  sure  that  the  Yantic  must 
have  left  provisions  at  Cape  Isabella,  Sergeant  Rice  and 
Eskimo  Jens  were  sent  thither;  but  they  returned  dis- 
appointed, finding  only  the  English  cache  of  one  hundred 
and  forty  pounds  of  meat. 


ASD    OTHER   ARCTIC   EXPLORERS.  4Y9 

The  party  constructed  winter  quarters  at  Sabine,  call- 
ing the  place  Camp  Clay,  after  Henry  Clay  who  went 
with  them  in  1881,  and  returned  on  the  Proteus. 

The  rock  walls  of  the  house  were  about  two  feet  thick 
and  three  feet  high,  covered  with  the  whale-boat  turned 
bottom  side  upward.  "  Under  that  boat,"  says  Greely's 
journal,  "  was  the  only  place  in  which  a  man  could  even 
get  on  his  knees  and  hold  himself  erect.  Sitting  on  our 
bags,  the  heads  of  the  tall  men  reached  the  roof.  .  .  . 
The  scarcity  of  rocks  prevented  our  building  higher 
walls,  and  snow-blocks  were  at  first  insufficient  to  build 
snow-huts." 

The  caches  were  now  to  be  examined.  "  God  only 
knows,"  says  Greely,  "  what  we  shall  do  if  it  (the 
English  cache)  is  spoiled;  this  hut  will  be  our  grave; 
but,  until  the  worst  comes,  we  shall  never  cease  to  hope 
for  the  best."  Garlington  had  reported  it  damaged, 
though  he  did  not  visit  it  and  make  good  the  damaged 
food. 

Greely  hoped  against  hope,  that  the  provisions  would 
be  eatable.  "  On  bringing  it  in,"  he  says,  "the  rum  and 
alcohol  were  found  to  have  entirely  leaked  away  or  evap- 
orated, the  groceries  spoiled,  and  the  four  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds  of  bread  and  dog-biscuit  all  mouldy.  Sev- 
enty-two pounds  of  the  latter,  only  a  mass  of  green 
mould,  was  entirely  unserviceable.  Dr.  Pavy  emphati- 
cally declared  that  these  slimy  biscuits  were  not  only 
valueless  as  food,  but  that  their  use  would  be  absolutely 
injurious  to  health,  an  opinion  in  which  I  fully  concurred, 
and  so  ordered  them  thrown  away.  However,  as  I  sub- 
sequently learned,  the  ravenous  condition  of  some  of  the 
party  was  such  that,  despite  my  positive  order  and  ear- 
nest entreaties,  they  were  all  eaten." 


480  GENERAL   A.    W.    GREELY 

Brainard  writes  in  his  journal:  "When  this  bread, 
thoroughly  rotten  and  covered  with  a  green  mould,  was 
thrown  on  the  ground,  the  half-famished  men  sprang  to 
it  as  wild  animals  would.  What,  I  wonder,  Avill  be  our 
condition  when  we  undergo  a  still  greater  reduction  in 
our  provisions  ?  " 

"  The  canned  meat  brought  in  was  good,"  says  Greely, 
"  but  the  bacon  rancid,  though  all  of  it  was  eaten  by  us 
later."  But  for  these  English  caches,  probably  no  one  of 
the  party  would  have  been  spared. 

In  bringing  in  the  Neptune  cache,  a  mile  away,  sev- 
eral of  the  men  had  their  feet  frozen,  Greely  among  the 
number. 

With  scanty  supplies,  the  men  now  settled  down  to 
the  long,  dark  winter's  waiting.  "  We  are  now  in  our 
hut,"  writes  Lockwood  in  his  journal,  "  but  it  is  not  yet 
finished,  and  is  cold  and  uncomfortable.  Our  constant 
talk  is  about  something  to  eat,  and  the  different  dishes 
we  have  enjoyed,  or  hope  to  enjoy  on  getting  back  to 
civilization.  How  often  my  thoughts  turn  toward  home 
and  the  dear  ones  there.  We  all  suppose  that  Garling- 
ton  and  party  are  at  Littleton  Island,  but  yet  doubts 
will  arise  as  to  it.  We  have  found  out  some  scraps  of 
news  from  slips  of  newspaper  wrapped  around  the 
lemons.  Each  man  had  a  lemon  to-night.  We  are  all 
hungry  all  the  time." 

Among  some  clothing  cached  at  Sabine,  a  newspaper 
article  was  found  written  by  Henry  Clay,  May  13,  1883, 
from  which  they  inferred  that  the  Jeannette  was  lost. 
"  Bice  read  the  paper  aloud  this  evening,"  writes  Lock- 
wood,  "  and  it  has  excited  a  great  deal  of  remark.  We 
all  think  Clay's  paper  almost  prophetic,  except,  of 
course,  our  '  lying  down  under  the   quiet  stars  to  die.' 


AND   OTHER   ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  481 

The  article  gives  me  pain  in  reflection  of  the  great  alarm 
and  sorrow  felt  by  my  dear  father  and  mother  and  sisters 
on  my  behalf.  Should  my  ambitious  hopes  be  disap- 
pointed, and  these  lines  only  meet  the  eyes  of  those  so 
dear,  may  they  not  add  to  my  many  faults  and  failings 
that  of  ingratitude  or  want  of  affection  in  not  more  fre- 
quent allusions  to  them,  and  my  thoughts  concerning 
them." 

Oct.  26  was  the  last  day  of  sunlight  for  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  long  days.  "  How  to  pass  this  coming 
Arctic  winter,''  writes  Greely,  "  is  a  question  I  cannot 
answer.  When  they  read,"  he  says,  "  the  wretched 
Eskimo  lamp,  with  its  faint  glimmer  of  light,  is  held 
close  to  the  reader.  Some  already  begrudge  the  oil  for 
this  purpose  ;  but  I  look  on  it  as  more  than  well  spent  in 
giving  food  for  our  minds,  which,  turned  inward,  these 
coming  months  would  inevitably  drive  us  all  insane." 

Storms  increased;  and  although  the  hunters,  espe- 
cially Francis  Long,  sought  daily  for  game,  almost  none 
was  obtained.  Lockwood  writes:  "This  is  miserable; 
we  have  insufficient  supplies  of  everything.  Even  the 
blubber  will  support  but  one  poor  light,  and  that  hardly 
for  the  winter.  We  must  rely  on  the  whale-boat  and 
the  barrel-staves  mostly  for  fuel,  the  alcohol  being 
almost  exhausted.  Cold,  dampness,  darkness,  and  hun- 
ger are  our  portion  every  day  and  all  day.  Here  in  the 
hut  one  has  to  grope  around  in  the  darkness  to  find 
anything  laid  down." 

Oct.  29  Lockwood  writes,  even  before  they  had  been 
reduced  .to  winter  rations:  "Occupied  some  time  this 
morning  in  scratching  like  a  dog  in  the  place  where  the 
mouldy  dog-biscuits  were  emptied.  Found  a  few  crumbs 
and   small   pieces,   and  ate  mould   and    all.  .  .  .     Long 


482  GENERAL   A.    W.    GREELY 

and  Frederick  [Christiansen  the  Eskimo]  went  out  to 
hunt  to-day,  but  got  nothing.  .  .  .  We  now  get  about 
one-fourth  what  we  could  eat  at  a  meal,  and  this  limited 
allowance  is  to  be  much  farther  reduced  as  soon  as  the 
sledging  is  done,  which  is  about  Nov.  1. 

"  Oct.  31.  To-morrow  our  reduction  of  rations  com- 
mences. Whether  we  can  live  on  such  a  driblet  of  food 
remains  to  be  seen.  We  are  now  constantly  hungry, 
and  the  constant  thought  and  talk  run  on  food,  dishes 
of  all  kinds.  ...  I  have  a  constant  longing  for  food. 
Anything  to  fill  me  up.  God!  what  a  life.  A  few 
crumbs  of  hard  bread  taste  delicious.  .  .  .  The  hunting 
party  have  a  slight  increase  of  rations  during  their 
absence.  I  hope  to  God  they  have  got  something.  How 
often  my  thoughts  wander  home,  and  I  recall  my  dear 
father,  mother,  and  the  family  generally  —  then  comes 
the  family  dishes  of  all  kinds.  Numb  fingers,  and  want 
of  light  —  I  can  write  no  niore.  .  .  .  No  sledging  any 
more,  excepting  Eice's  trip,  until  spring,  should  we  live 
to  see  it. 

"  Thursday,  Nov.  1.  A  white  fox  shot  this  morning 
by  Schneider.  We  ate  the  entrails  as  well  as  everything 
else  of  the  animal. 

"  Nov.  3.  Breakfast  this  morning  of  a  few  mouthfuls 
of  hard  bread  and  a  little  piece  of  butter  about  as  large 
as  one's  finger.  I  had  some  mouldy  potatoes.  .  .  . 
They  are  spoiled  and  mouldy  all  the  way  through,  but 
anything  that  fills  the  stomach  is  grateful." 

How  one  laments  as  he  reads  these  pitiful  words,  that 
the  Neptune  and  the  Yantic  should  have  come  home 
laden  with  stores,  which  would  have  saved  these  fam- 
ished men  ! 

"  Fingers  and  toes  cold  nearly  all  the  time ;  temper- 


AND    OTHER  ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  483 

ature  here  in  the  house  about  freezing-point  all  the  time. 
God!  this  miserable  existence  cannot  be  conceived  of 
by  any  one  but  ourselves.  Constant  thoughts  of  home 
and  dear  ones  there. 

"Nov.  9.  For  dinner  we  had  tea,  a  spoonful  of  Eng- 
lish meat,  and  a  handful  of  hard-bread.  Breakfast  was 
chocolate,  a  little  piece  of  butter,  and  a  little  bread. 
One  is  more  hungry  when  he  gets  through  these  meals 
than  before.  .  .  .  Smoke  at  almost  every  meal  insuffer- 
able.    It  is  blinding,  and  hides  everything." 

Early  in  November  it  was  decided  to  send  Rice,  Eli- 
son,  Lynn,  and  Frederick  to  Cape  Isabella  for  the  one 
hundred  and  forty-four  pounds  of  beef  cached  there  by 
Nares  in  1875.  They  suffered  on  the  way  over  from 
cold,  and  on  the  way  back  Elison  froze  his  hands  and 
feet.  "At  night  their  sleeping-bag,"  says  Frederick  in 
his  journal,  "  was  no  more  nor  less  than  a  sheet  of  ice. 
I  placed  one  of  Elison's  hands  between  my  thighs  and 
Rice  took  the  other,  and  in  this  way  we  drew  the  frost 
from  his  poor  frozen  limbs.  The  poor  fellow  cried  all 
night  from  pain.  This  was  one  of  the  worst  nights  I  ever 
spent  in  the  Arctic." 

Elison  was  soon  helpless,  and  had  to  be  carried.  To 
save  his  life  the  meat  was  abandoned;  and  after  ten 
hours  of  struggling  in  the  snow  and  over  the  hummocky 
ice,  they  reached  their  old  camp  at  Eskimo  Point. 
Here,  to  thaw  out  his  limbs,  they  cut  up  the  English 
ice-boat,  which  had  been  left  intact  for  a  possible  jour- 
ney southward.  "When  the  poor  fellow's  face,  feet, 
and  hands. commenced  to  thaw  from  the  artificial  heat," 
says  Frederick,  "his  sufferings  were  such  that  it  was 
enough  to  bring  the  strongest  to  tears." 

Rice  finally  travelled  back  twenty-five  miles  to  Camp 


484  GENERAL   A.    W.    GREELY 

Clay  at  Sabine,  for  assistance,  and  reached  the  place 
exhausted,  having  eaten  only  a  piece  of  frozen  meat  on 
the  way. 

Lockwood,  Brainard,  and  others  at  once  started  to 
their  aid.  When  they  reached  Eskimo  Point,  the  frozen 
sleeping-bag,  in  which  Frederick,  Lynn,  and  Elison  had 
lain  for  eighteen  hours,  unable  to  move,  had  to  be  cut 
off  them  with  a  hatchet.  Elison  was  nearly  dead,  and 
when  brought  back  to  Camp  Clay  begged  piteously  for 
death. 

Greely  regards  this  rescue  journey  of  Lockwood  "the 
most  remarkable  in  the  annals  of  Arctic  sledging." 
"  This  half-starved  party,"  he  says  in  his  official  report, 
"  made  a  round  trip  of  about  forty  miles  in  total  dark- 
ness, and  over  rough  and  heavy  ice,  in  forty -four  hours, 
with  temperatures  ranging  from  —  19°  to  —  34.5°.  The 
remarkable  work  done  by  this  party  appears  the  more 
astonishing,  in  that  this  was  their  third  winter  within 
the  Arctic  circle,  that  they  had  been  on  short  rations  for 
over  two  months,  and  had  been  utterly  inactive  for  the 
previous  ten  days.  In  the  most  willing  manner,  without 
a  murmur,  these  men  ventured  their  lives  on  the  mere 
possibility  of  rescuing  a  comrade  whom  they  expected 
to  find  dead." 

Elison  now  received  twice  as  much  food  as  any  other 
man,  with  the  hope  that  his  life  might  be  saved.  No 
one  complained,  for  it  was  felt  that  Elison  had  crippled 
himself  in  trying  to  bring  meat  for  the  party  from  Cape 
Isabella. 

The  dreadful  winter  wore  on.  Lieutenant  Greely 
varied  the  monotony  as  much  as  possible  by  a  daily 
lecture  on  the  physical  geography  of  the  United  States, 
its  resources,  etc. ;  others  read  various  books  to  the  party, 


AND   OTHER  ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  485 

or  gave  personal  reminiscences.  Nov.  14  Lockwood 
writes  in  his  journal :  "  Oh  !  the  dear  ones  at  home,  how 
I  long  to  see  them.  Brainard  plants  a  pole  on  a  neigh- 
boring rock  to-day,  to  attract  the  attention  of  any  party 
from  the  other  side."  They  still  had  hopes  that  Gar- 
lington  might  be  at  Littleton  Island,  nearly  opposite. 

"Nov.  19.  .  .  .  Day  overcast.  Bread  reduced  now  to 
six  ounces  a  day,  and  meat  to  four  ounces.  This  is  on 
account  of  increased  rations  issued  Elison.  Ate  a  lot 
of  mouldy  dog-biscuit  to-day.  .  .  .  Feel  ravenous,  and 
could  eat  anything  now  in  the  shape  of  food.  Fill  up 
with  tea  leaves  when  any  are  left  over. 

"Nov.  21.  .  .  .  American  mineral  products  discoursed 
on  by  Lieutenant  Greely.  .  .  .  What  an  experience 
is  this  I  am  going  through.  Such  an  experience  is 
enough  for  one's  life.     How  I  long  for  the  time  to  pass. 

"Nov.  23.  .  .  .  Remarks  in  the  morning  on  the  State 
of  Maine,  by  Lieutenant  Greely  and  others.  Conversa- 
tion during  the  day  about  dishes  of  all  kinds,  and  des- 
serts, soups,  etc.  We  never  seem  to  weary  of  this 
subject.  .  .  .  Chewed  up  the  foot  of  a  fox  this  evening 
raw.     It  was  altogether  bone  and  gristle." 

Nov.  29  was  set  aside  as  a  day  of  thanksgiving  and 
praise,  "in  order,"  says  Greely,  "that  we  might  act 
in  accord  with  those  we  have  left  behind.  ...  It 
seemed  to  me  then  that  making  this  a  great  and  happy 
day  would  so  break  in  on  our  wretchedness  and  misery 
as  to  give  us  new  courage  and  determination.  .  .  .  To- 
day we  have  been  almost  happy,  and  had  almost  enough 
to  eat.  .  .  .  It  seemed  to  me  that  the  Psalms  of  the  day 
made  a  deeper  impression  than  I  have  ever  before 
noted." 

The  next  day,  Nov.  30,  Lockwood  wrote  in  his  journal: 


486  GENERAL  A.    W.    GREELY 

"  How  often  I  picture  to  myself  the  old,  familiar  scenes 
of  home  !  How  I  long  to  know  that  all  are  well,  and 
trust  their  anxiety  for  me  is  not  too  great.  I  picture  to 
myself  where  my  sisters  are  living,  and  the  family 
scenes  and  conversation  at  the  old  roof-tree  in  the 
evening. 

"  Dec.  3.  Breakfast  this  morning  consisted  of  choco- 
late and  one  and  one-half  ounces  butter  —  no  bread,  for 
I  ate  all  my  bread  last  night.  Many  of  us  eat  all  our 
bread  at  night,  and  many  try  to  save  and  manipulate 
their  dole  of  food  in  a  dozen  ways  to  make  the  mite  of 
food  seem  more  filling.  I  have  saved  from  yesterday 
some  scraps  of  seal-skin ;  and  after  Long  was  through,  I 
put  the  can  over  the  remnants  of  the  fire  for  a  few 
minutes,  and  the  scraps  became  quite  soft.  I  ate  the 
hair  and  all.  The  skin  has  little  on  it  but  the  hair,  the 
blubber  and  meat  being  cut  off  as  clean  as  possible. 

"  Dec.  19.  We  are  all  very  weak,  and  I  feel  an  apathy 
and  cloudiness  impossible  to  shake  off.  ...  I  always 
eat  my  bread  regretfully.  If  I  eat  it  before  tea,  I  re- 
gret that  I  did  not  keep  it;  and  if  I  wait  till  tea  comes, 
and  then  eat  it,  I  drink  my  tea  hastily  and  do  not  get 
the  satisfaction  I  otherwise  would.  What  a  miserable 
life,  when  a  few  crumbs  of  bread  weigh  so  on  one's 
mind !  " 

Brainard  writes  in  his  journal :  "  We  are  all  more  or 
less  unreasonable,  and  I  only  wonder  that  we  are  not  all 
insane.  ...  If  we  are  not  mad,  it  should  be  a  matter 
of  surprise.  I  wonder  if  we  will  survive  the  horrors  of 
this  ice-prison." 

Still  the  poor  starving  men  kept  up  hope.  Their 
spirits  improved  when  the  sun,  after  its  farthest  distance 
from    them,  began   to    return  Dec.  21.     "Thank    God," 


AND    OTHER   ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  487 

exclaims  Lockwood  in  his  journal,  "  now  the  glorious 
sun  commenced  to  return,  and  every  day  gets  lighter 
and  brings  him  nearer.  It  is  an  augury  that  we  shall 
yet  pull  through  all  right.  By  a  great  effort  I  was  able 
to  save  an  ounce  of  bread  and  two  ounces  of  butter  for 
Christmas.  I  shall  make  a  vigorous  effort  to  abstain 
from  eating  it  before  then.  Put  it  in  charge  of  Bierder- 
bick  as  an  additional  safeguard.  Brainard  shot  another 
fox  last  night,  a  blue  one.  .  .  .  This  makes  the  twentieth 
fox  killed.  Louisiana  spoken  of  to-day.  I  added  to  it 
by  recounting  my  trip  from  Baltimore  to  Texas,  and 
then,  on  return,  to  New  Orleans  and  up  to  Cincinnati."' 

On  Christmas  Day,  the  party  were  in  good  spirits. 
Brainard  replaced  the  broken  distress  Hag-staff  facing 
the  Greenland  coast,  and  predicted  that  Lieutenant 
Garlington  would  visit  them  during  the  full  moon  in 
January.     Alas  !  that  the  prediction  did  not  prove  true. 

The  fuel  had  now  become  so  scanty  that  ropes  were 
burned,  which  made  a  dense  smoke,  irritating  to  the  eyes 
and  throat.  One  of  Elison's  feet  had  been  taken  off  by 
Dr.  Pavy,  the  surgeon,  but  he  did  not  know  it. 

By  Jan.  15  Lieutenant  Lockwood  had  become  so  weak 
that  Greely,  in  whose  sleeping-bag  he  slept  also,  was 
obliged  to  help  him  to  turn  over,  and  support  him  while 
he  ate  his  scanty  breakfast. 

Greely  offered  him  his  ration  of  beef,  four  ounces, 
which  he  declined,  saying  that  Greely 's  need  was  as 
great  as  his  own.  He  urged  Greely  that  when  the  time 
came  for  crossing  to  Littleton  Bland,  in  the  early  spring, 
when  it  was  light  and  the  channel  frozen,  that  he  be 
left  behind,  and  be  sent  for  later,  but  to  this  Greely 
would  not  for  a  moment  consent. 

Jan.   15  Lieutenant  Greely  writes:   ••In  consequence 


488  GENERAL   A.    W.    GUEELY 

of  the  necessity  of  melting  ice  hereafter  for  all  our 
water,  I  was  obliged  to  reduce  the  quantity  of  tea,  so 
that  hereafter  we  have  but  half  allowance.  It  comes 
very  hard  upon  many  of  the  men.  I  am  able  to  stand 
it  myself,  and  have  taken  some  pulverized  ice  in  a  rub- 
ber bag,  which  I  have  melted  by  the  heat  of  ni}'  body  to 
furnish  drinking-water  for  others.  The  party  are  some- 
what depressed  by  the  reduction  of  water." 

The  first  death  among  the  starving  party  occurred  Jan. 
18,  that  of  Sergeant  William  H.  Cross.  The  body  was 
sewed  up  in  sacks  and  canvas  by  Brainard  and  Bierder- 
bick  ;  and  after  Lieutenant  Greely  had  read  the  Episcopal 
burial  service,  and  tried  to  cheer  the  men  in  their  de- 
spondency, the  corpse  was  covered  by  the  American  flag, 
and  six  weak  men  dragged  it  on  the  English  sledge  to 
the  summit  of  a  hill  near  by,  and  buried  it  in  a  grave 
fifteen  inches  deep.  Cross  would  have  been  forty  on  the 
day  following.  It  was  found  that  he  had  saved  con- 
siderable bread  and  butter  with  which  to  celebrate  his 
birthday. 

On  Eeb.  1  Lieutenant  Lockwood  was  so  weak  that 
Lieutenant  Greely  issued  to  him  daily  an  ounce  each 
of  bread  and  meat,  as  extra  food.  Two  days  later,  poor 
Lockwood  writes  :  "  I  am  getting  stronger  very  slowly. 
The  slight  increase  in  the  rations  will  help  me  rapidly. 
.  .  .  Jewell  fainted  to-night,  just  after  coining  in  from 
outside. 

"Feb.  5.  .  .  .  I  got  up  myself  to-day,  and  managed 
to  get  out  of  doors  without  the  assistance  of  Frederick 
[Christiansen,  the  Eskimo],  but  fell  down  in  the  alleyway 
coming  back,  and  also  fell  down  on  getting  inside  here." 

On  Feb.  2  Bice  and  Jens,  the  Eskimo,  started  to  cross 
Smith    Sound    to    Littleton    Island,    to    bring    whatever 


AND    OTHER   ARCTIC  EXPLORER*.  489 

food  might  be  there,  and  to  see  Garlington,  although 
Greely  had  little  belief  that  he  was  there.  Much  hope 
and  prayer  went  with  the  brave  fellows  as  they  started 
on  their  journey.  Brainard  wrote  in  his  journal:  "A 
tremulous  '  God  bless  you  ! '  a  hearty  grasp  of  the  hand, 
and  we  turned  away  in  tears  from  those  brave  souls  who 
were  daring  and  enduring  so  much  for  us.  .  .  .  While 
watching  their  progress  I  distinctly  heard  the  hoarse 
grinding  of  the  pack  not  far  away.  Of  this  I  said  noth- 
ing to  my  companions,  owing  to  the  depressing  effect 
such  information  would  have  on  their  minds." 

Four  days  later,  to  the  surprise  and  bitter  disappoint- 
ment of  all.  Rice  and  Jens  returned,  having  found  open 
water  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  and  no  frozen  passage 
as  they  had  hoped.  The  only  signs  of  game  were  some 
old  bear-tracks. 

Lockwood  wrote  in  his  journal:  "Of  course  we  are 
all  very  much  disappointed  ;  the  party  takes  a  bold  front, 
and  are  not  wanting  in  spirit.  ...  If  our  fate  is  the 
worst,  I  do  not  think  we  shall  disgrace  the  name  of 
Americans  and  of  soldiers." 

To  keep  up  the  spirits  of  the  men,  Greely  announced 
that  it  was  more  than  probable  Smith  Sound  would 
freeze  over  by  March  1.  "  In  such  an  event,"  I  argued,  •'•'  we 
c<  mid  afford  to  deny  ourselves  a  little,  and  so  I  had  decided 
to  cut  down  our  bread  a  couple  of  ounces,  so  we  would 
be  able  to  remain  here  until  March  ('>.... 

"I  certainly  do  not  deceive  all  the  party,  but  perhaps  I 
do  some.  Perhaps  my  plans  may  succeed,  and  this  wide 
strait  freeze  solid,  but  I  cannot  now  believe  it.  .  .  . 
Jewell  froze  his  fingers  to-day. 

"Our  poor  starved  bodies  have  not  enough  blood  and 
vital  heat  to  resist  this  temperature  of  —  27.5°.  ...     I 


490  GENERAL   A.   W.    GBEELY 

have  been  obliged  to  cut  off,  after  to-day,  Lieutenant 
Lock  wood's  extra  ration. 

"Feb.  8,  Mercury  again  frozen,  greatly  to  our  delight, 
for  a  week  of  this  weather  would  cement  securely  the 
ice  of  Smith  Sound. 

"  Feb.  12.  .  .  .  Notwithstanding  the  mercury  is  frozen, 
the  water  in  the  straits  still  remains  open,  probably  in 
consequence  of  spring  tides.  The  roaring  ice,  a  dismal, 
fateful  sound  to  us,  was  heard  nearly  all  day." 

The  same  clay  Lockwood  writes:  "Our  situation  is 
deplorable.  ...  It  will  be  pitiable  if  this  party  after 
fighting  short  rations,  cold,  etc.,  all  winter,  is  doomed  to 
die  in  the  spring.  Poor  Elison,  I  am  afraid,  will  never 
survive.  How  often  I  think  of  the  dear  ones  at  home, 
the  Sunday  evening  reunions,  and  all  the  bright  and 
happy  pictures  that  present  themselves." 

Four  days  later :  "  I  shall  be  glad  when  the  end  comes, 
whenever  it  is  to  be.  .  .  .  "We  axe  all  very  dirty ;  my 
hands  and  face  are  actually  black  in  color.  All  our 
clothes  are  covered  with  grease  and  dirt.  ...  I  do  lit- 
tle talking,  finding  it  difficult  to  raise  my  voice.  I  find 
myself  pursued  by  ennui,  aimlessness,  apathy,  and  indif- 
ference, produced  by  hunger,  cold,  gloom,  dirt,  and  all 
the  miseries  of  this  existence.  ...  I  see  no  chance  of 
the  straits  being  closed  to  the  end  of  the  month.  To 
my  mind  we  must  find  game  here,  or  else  receive  help 
from  Littleton  Island.  It  will  soon  be  decided,  thank 
God. 

"Feb.  18.  .  .  .  We  are  drawing  nearer  the  end  of 
our  rations.  The  prospect  of  getting  more  is  rather  dis- 
mal.    We  are  all  very  hopeful,  however." 

March  1,  the  day  previously  fixed  by  Lieutenant 
Greely  for  crossing  Smith  Sound  came,  but  he  writes  : 


ANT)   OTHER   ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  491 

"The  straits  are  wide  open,  and  if  we  only  had  sufficient 
strength  to  remove  the  boat  from  the  building,  we  could 
now  attempt  a  passage  partly  by  sledge,  and  partly  by 
boat." 

Long  and  Christiansen  travelled  seventy  miles  to  find 
game,  but  returned  unsuccessful.  Greely  sadly  writes, 
March  13  :  "  The  fates  seem  to  be  against  us  —  an  open 
channel,  no  game,  no  food,  and  apparently  no  hopes 
from  Littleton  Island.  We  have  been  lured  here  to  our 
destruction.  If  we  were  now  the  strong,  active  men  of 
last  autumn,  we  could  cross  Smith  Sound  where  there  is 
much  open  water  ;  but  we  are  a  party  of  twenty-four 
starved  men,  of  whom  two  cannot  walk  and  a  half-dozen 
cannot  haul  a  pound.  We  have  done  all  we  can  to  strug- 
gle on,  but  it  drives  me  almost  insane  to  face  the  future. 
It  is  not  the  end  that  affrights  any  one,  but  the  road  to 
be  travelled  to  reach  that  goal.  To  die  is  easy,  very 
easy :  it  is  only  hard  to  strive,  to  endure,  to  live." 

They  could  not  get  the  boat,  covered  with  snow,  off 
the  roof  of  the  hut ;  a  little  later,  they  had  not  the 
strength  to  clean  off  the  snow  even  \vhen  it  commenced 
leaking  through. 

March  14,  three  ptarmigans  were  killed,  the  first  game 
since  early  in  February.  "Beaks,  claws,  and  entrails 
were  eaten." 

One  week  later  Greely  writes  :  "  It  is  surprising  with 
what  calmness  we  view  death,  which,  strongly  as  we 
may  hope,  now  seems  inevitable.  Only  game  can  save 
us.  We  have  talked  over  the  matter  calmly  and  quietly, 
and  I  have  always  exhorted  the  men  to  die  as  men,  and 
not  as  dogs." 

Lock  wood  writes  in  his  journal  on  the  same  day, 
March  21 :   ''The  time  draws  near  when  our  group  comes 


492  GENERAL   A.   W.    GREELT 

to  an  end.  We  look  on  it  with  equanimity,  and  the 
spirits  of  the  party,  with  this  prospect  of  a  miserable 
death,  is  certainly  wonderful.  I  am  glad  as  each  day 
draws  to  an  end.  It  puts  us  nearer  the  end  of  this  life, 
—  whatever  that  end  is  to  be.  How  often  I  think  of 
those  at  home,  and  of  what  they  are  doing.  Oh,  God  ! 
That  I  could  be  Avith  them  for  a  few  hours  only.  .  .  . 
The  fuel,  all  except  the  boat,  is  about  gone  —  ends  with 
to-morrow." 

Lockwood's  feet  were  badly  swollen,  and  his  mind 
wandered  much  of  the  time,  yet  as  late  as  March  25, 
he  wrote  :  '•'  We  are  all  confident  now  of  pulling  through." 
For  the  first  time  in  five  months  a  ray  of  sunlight 
entered  the  wretched  hut. 

They  had  now  given  up  all  hope  of  crossing  the  Sound. 
Long  and  Brainard  killed  several  dovekies,  and  their 
hopes  were  strengthened.  Long  was  especially  happy  as 
he  had  promised  for  months  to  provide  Greely  Avith  a 
birthday  present  of  food  on  his  fortieth  birthday,  March 
27,  which  promise  he  was  thus  enabled  to  keep. 

April  5  the  second  death  occurred,  that  of  Frederick 
Christiansen,  to  whom  all  were  much  attached.  He  was 
buried  beside  Cross. 

April  6  Lynn  became  unconscious  at  one  p.m.  and 
died  at  seven.  He  asked  for  water  just  before  dying,  but 
they  had  none  to  give.  He  had  never  recovered  from 
the  disastrous  trip  to  Isabella  for  the  one  hundred  and 
forty  pounds  of  meat. 

Near  midnight  of  the  same  day,  April  6,  Sergeant  Rice 
and  Frederick  started  southwards  towards  Cape  Isabella, 
to  bring  the  meat  which  they  had  been  obliged  to  aban- 
don when  Elison's  hands  and  feet  were  frozen.  The 
darkness  had  prevented  their  going  much  earlier,  and 


AND   OTHER   ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  493 

Greely  feared  the  results  of  such  a  journey.  Rice 
begged  to  be  allowed  to  go  on  the  same  rations  as  the 
rest  of  the  men  were  receiving,  four  ounces  of  meat,  and 
four  ounces  of  bread  daily.  For  a  few  hours  previous  to 
their  departure  Rice  slept  in  the  same  bag  with  the 
dead  body  of  Lynn,  so  fully  had  they  become  used  to 
the  presence  of  the  destroyer. 

Through  a  blinding  snow-storm  these  two  men  trav- 
elled, and  reached  the  place  where  the  meat  was  aban- 
doned, about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  April  9. 
Not  a  trace  of  it  was  to  be  found.  An  hour  later,  on 
their  return  trip,  Rice  became  too  weak  to  stand.  He 
talked  of  home  and  friends  ;  Frederick  took  off  his  own 
outer  garment  and  wrapped  up  the  feet  of  his  dying 
comrade.  In  the  driving  snow,  in  his  shirt  sleeves  on 
the  ice,  he  held  Rice  in  his  arms  till  eight  o'clock,  when 
the  noble  and  self-denying  young  lawyer  and  photogra- 
pher of  the  expedition  passed  away.  Frederick  buried 
his  comrade  in  the  snow  and  ice,  and,  more  dead  than 
alive,  returned  to  Camp  Clay. 

Meantime  the  affectionate  and  heroic  Lockwood  had 
penned  the  last  words  in  his  journal,  April  7:  .  .  . 
"Jewell  is  much  weaker  to-day."  On  April  8  he  fell 
fainting  in  the  passage-way.  For  three  days  he  had  been 
receiving  four  ounces  of  raw  dovekies  daily,  but  it  was 
of  no  avail.  April  9  his  mind  wandered,  and  he  became 
unconscious  at  four  in  the  morning.  At  four  twenty  in 
the  afternoon  he  died  peacefully. 

Brainard  writes:  "This  will  be  a  sad  and  unexpected 
blow  to  his  family,  who  evidently  idolized  him.  Bier- 
derbick  and  myself  straightened  his  limbs  and  prepared 
his  remains  for  burial.  It  was  the  saddest  duty  that  I 
have  ever  yet  been  called  upon  to  perform." 


494  GENERAL  A.    W.    GREELY 

"He  was  a  gallant  officer,"  writes  Greely,  "a  brave, 
true  and  loyal  man.  Christian  charity,  manliness,  and 
gentleness  were  the  salient  points  of  his  character.  He 
always  did  his  best;  and  that  best  will  give  him  a  name 
in  Arctic  history  as  long  as  courage,  perseverance,  and 
success  shall  seem  worthy  of  man's  praise  and  am- 
bition." 

Jewell,  to  whom  four  ounces  of  extra  food  were  given 
ciaily,  being  fed  by  the  hands  of  Greely,  became  un- 
conscious in  his  arms,  and  died  without  a  struggle, 
April  12.  He  and  Lockwood  were  buried  beside  the 
others  on  Cemetery  Kidge. 

Greely  was  now  so  weak  that  his  death  was  expected, 
and  Lieutenant  Kislingbury  was  to  take  his  place  in 
that  event. 

April  11  Brainard  fell  breathless  in  the  passage-way, 
calling  out,  "  A  bear,  a  bear  !  "  The  animal  was  killed 
by  Long  and  Jens,  the  Eskimo.  He  weighed  four 
hundred  pounds.  No  words  could  express  the  joy  of  the 
starving  men.  The  following  day  Long  shot  a  seal 
weighing  sixty  pounds. 

Brainard,  before  this,  saved  the  lives  of  the  party  by 
gathering  shrimps,  which  are  so  small  that  it  takes 
1300  to  make  a  gill.  From  April  8  to  30  he  brought  in 
no  less  than  four  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  On  May  3, 
however,  the  last  bread  was  gone,  and  but  nine  days' 
meat  remained. 

Poor  Jens  Edward,  the  Eskimo,  was  drowned  by  the 
overturning  of  his  kayak,  April  29,  while  endeavoring 
to  reach  a  seal.  Their  only  reliable  rifle  was  also  lost  in 
this  boat. 

It  was  hourly  expected  that  Greely  would  pass  away. 

Brainard  writes :  "  This    life    is  growing  almost  un- 


AND   OTHER  ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  495 

bearable  —  it  is  horrible!  I  am  afraid  that  we  will  yet 
all  go  mad.  In  my  case  the  thoughts  of  home,  a  bright 
future,  the  many  enjoyments  of  life,  and  a  feeling  of 
responsibility  for  the  poor  fellows,  who,  to  a  certain 
extent,  look  to  me  to  provide  them  with  food,  do  more 
to  inspire  me  to  work  and  to  fight  the  end  than  anything 
else." 

Thursday,  May  1,  Brainard  says:  "Lieutenant  Kis- 
lingbury's  mind  is  almost  completely  gone.  Poor  fel- 
low !  it  is  oidy  a  few  days  ago  that  he  spoke  so  hopefully 
of  the  future,  and  the  happiness  he  anticipated  in  meet- 
ing his  young  son  on  his  return.  Yesterday  I  saw  him 
lying  on  the  small  sledge  outside,  weeping  like  a  child  ; 
turning  to  me  he  said  with  a  half-smothered  groan,  'It 
is  hopeless ;  I  cannot  fight  this  starvation  longer :  I  am 
doomed  to  die  here  ! '  " 

May  20  Private  Ellis  was  buried ;  the  first  death 
from  starvation  in  six  weeks.  The  men  were  so  weak 
that  they  could  scarcely  drag  the  body  to  Cemetery 
Ridge. 

Ralston  died  three  days  later,  at  one  a.m.  Greely 
remained  in  the  sleeping-bag,  with  the  body,  till  about 
five  a.m.,  "chilled  through  by  contact  with  the  dead." 

As  the  hut  had  become  unfit  to  live  in  from  the  melt- 
ing snow,  which  wet  the  inmates  constantly,  the  party 
moved  to  a  tout  some  three  hundred  yards  away. 

Whisler  died  at  noon,  May  24. 

Sergeant  Israel,  the  bright  .young  astronomer  from 
Ann  Arbor  University,  fed  for  several  days  by  Greely, 
died  May  27«      He  was  beloved  by  all. 

Seal-skin  thongs,  which  had  been  used  in  lashing 
together  the  sledge,  now  began  to  be  used  for  stews.  ••  It, 
is  astonishing  to  me,"  says  Greely  in  his  journal,  '-how 
the  party  holds  out." 


496  GENERAL  A.    W.    G  RE  ELY 

The  last  day  of  May  brought  a  heavy  snow-storm 
which  lasted  twenty-four  hours.  "  If,"  writes  Brainard, 
"  possessing  the  gift  of  divining  the  future,  I  should  dis- 
cover that  I  had  yet  another  month  of  this  terrible  ex- 
istence before  me,  I  would  at  once  end  everything.  .  .  . 
In  my  daily  journeyings  across  Cemetery  -Ridge,  it  was 
but  natural  at  first  that  my  reflections  should  be  sad  and 
gloomy.  .  .  .  The  brass  buttons  on  Lieutenant  Lock- 
wood's  blouse,  scoured  bright  by  the  flying  gravel,  pro- 
truded through  the  scanty  covering  of  earth  which  our 
depleted  strength  barely  enabled  us  to  place  over  him.  .  .  . 
Later  on  our  wretched  condition  served  to  counteract 
these  feelings ;  and  I  can  now  pass  and  repass  the  place 
without  emotion,  and  almost  with  indifference." 

Lieutenant  Kislingbury  died  Sunday,  June  1,  1884,  at 
three  p.m.  His  last  act  was  to  sing  the  Doxology,  in  a 
weak,  but  clear  voice  :  "  Praise  God  from  whom  all  bless- 
ings flow." 

Corporal  Salor  died  June  3,  at  three  a.m.  "  We  had 
not  strength  enough  to  bury  Salor,  so  he  was  put  out  of 
sight  in  the  ice-foot,"  notes  Greely  in  his  journal. 

June  5  Greely  crawled  up  the  rocks,  and  gathered  a 
pint  of  tripe  de  roche. 

June  6  Private  Henry  was  shot  at  two  p.m.  by  order 
of  Greely,  for  stealing  provisions,  which  meant  death 
to  all  if  persisted  in.  Bender  died  at  five  forty-five  p.m., 
and  Dr.  Pavy  at  six.  The  rest  now  lived  on  their  seal- 
skin gloves,  boots,  sleeping-bags,  and  lichens.  The  last 
of  the  seal-skin  was  divided  June  18. 

Gardiner  died  June  12,  about  five  p.m.  The  doctor 
predicted  that  he  would  die  in  April,  but  his  intense 
desire  to  see  his  wife  and  mother  seemed  to  keep  him 
alive.     To  the  last  (his  skeleton   fingers   clutching  the 


AND   OTHER   ARCTIC  EXPLORER,;.  497 

picture  even  after  death)  he  held  in  his  h?nds  an  ambro- 
type  of  his  wife  and  mother,  looking  at  ib  continually, 
and  speaking  to  it.  His  last  words  were,  "Mother! 
Wife  !  "  "  He  was  more  religious,"  says  Greely,  ';  than 
perhaps  any  other  one  in  the  party  :  although  allowed 
only  eight  pounds  of  baggage  on  the  retreat,  he  denied 
himself  to  bring  with  him  his  Bible,  our  only  one,  though 
I  had  a  prayer-book." 

Schneider  begged  for  opium  pills  with  which  to  end 
his  sufferings  on  June  16,  but  nobody  would  give  them 
to  him.  He  died  at  six  p.m.,  June  18.  He  was  not 
buried. 

June  20  Greely's  diary  reads  :  "  Six  years  ago  to-day 
I  was  married,  and  three  years  ago  I  left  my  wife  for 
this  expedition.  What  a  contrast !  When  will  this  life 
in  death  end  ?  " 

His  journal  ends  the  next  day,  June  21 :  "  Connell's 
legs  paralyzed  from  knee  down.  Bierderbick  suffering 
terribly  from  rheumatism.  Buchanan  Strait  open  this 
noon  a  long  way  up  the  coast." 

Brainard  entered  the  last  words  in  his  journal  on 
Thursday,  June  21 :  "  Since  day  before  yesterday  Eli- 
son  has  transferred  his  food  to  his  mouth  by  a  spoon 
which  is  tied  to  the  stump  of  his  frozen  arm." 

June  22,  Sunday,  all  were  exhausted.  Greely  tried  to 
read  a  little  from  the  prayer-book,  but  the  high  wind 
and  lack  of  food  made  it  too  exhausting.  Council  was 
scarcely  conscious,  and  all  had  resigned  themselves  to 
despair.  A  storm  had  been  raging,  and  the  tent  was 
nearly  blown  down,  pinning  some  of  the  men  under  it. 
The  end  was  now  only  a  question  of  a  few  hours  at 
most. 

Meantime  another  expedition  had  been  fitted  out  by 


498  GENERAL  A.    W.    GREELY 

the  United  States  for  the  rescue  of  Greely.  Three 
vessels  were  sent,  the  Thetis,  Bear,  and  Alert,  —  the  last 
the  flag-ship  of  Nares,  the  generous  gift  of  the  English 
government  tendered  by  the  Queen  to  America,  —  under 
Commander  Winfield  J.  Schley,  a  brave  and  experienced 
naval  officer.  The  ships  were  provisioned  for  one  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  men  for  two  years. 

Late  in  April  of  1884  the  vessels  steamed  out  of  New 
York  harbor,  watched  by  anxious  and  sympathetic 
hearts.  Both  the  Thetis  and  Bear  were  Dundee  whalers, 
built  for  forcing  the  ice,  which  they  did  through  Melville 
Bay,  sometimes  by  a  single  blow  splitting  a  pan  of  ice 
two  hundred  yards  across.  The  Alert  was  said  to  be  the 
strongest  modern  ship  afloat. 

When  Littleton  Island  was  reached  and  searched,  it 
was  evident  that  Greely  had  not  been  there.  It  was 
decided  to  run  over  to  Cape  Sabine,  to  see  if  any  traces 
of  the  party  could  be  found.  They  sailed  away  Sunday, 
June  22,  at  three  p.m.,  the  very  day  on  which  the  Greely 
party  seemed  to  have  lost  all  hope.  The  ships  were  made 
fast  to  the  ice  just  off  Brevoort  Island,  two  miles  south 
of  Sabine,  and  parties  were  sent  in  various  directions. 
Soon  cheers  were  heard,  for  some  of  the  men  had  found 
the  Greely  records  on  Stalknecht  Island.  These  papers 
had  been  left  Oct.  21,  eight  months  before,  and  the 
party  then  had  rations  for  forty  days.  It  seemed  cer- 
tain that  all  had  long  ere  this  perished. 

With  all  possible  haste  the  cutter  started  for  Camp 
Clay.  On  the  top  of  a  ridge  they  saw  the  figure  of  a 
man.  Greely  had  heard  the  whistle  of  the  Thetis  at  mid- 
night; and  Brainard  and  Long  had  crawled  out  of  the 
tent  to  see  if  any  vessel  was  in  sight,  but  they  returned 
disappointed.     Long  went  out  a  second  time  to  set  up 


AND   OTHER  ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  499 

the  distress  flag  which  had  blown  down.  The  cox- 
swain in  the  cutter  waved  a  flag.  The  man  on  the 
ridge  had  seen  it,  for  he  waved  one  in  return.  Then  he 
came  slowly  down  the  ridge,  falling  twice  as  he  came. 

Lieutenant  Colwell  called  out,  "Who  all  are  there 
left  ?  » 

"  Seven  left." 

"Where  are  they?  " 

"In  the  tent,  over  the  hill  —  the  tent  is  down." 

"Is  Mr.  Greely  alive?" 

'■  Yes,  Greely's  alive." 

"  Any  other  officers  ?  " 

"  No." 

"  Who  are  you  ?  " 

"  Long." 

"  He  was  a  ghastly  sight,"  says  Commander  Schley,  in 
Ins  "  Rescue  of  Greely."  "  His  cheeks  were  hollow,  his 
eyes  wild,  his  hair  and  beard  long  and  matted.  His 
army  blouse,  covering  several  thicknesses  of  shirts  and 
jackets,  was  ragged  and  dirty.  [They  had  not  changed 
their  clothing  nor  bathed  for  over  eleven  months.]  He 
wore  a  little  fur  cap  and  rough  moccasins  of  un tanned 
leather  tied  around  the  leg.  As  he  spoke,  his  utterance 
was  thick  and  mumbling." 

Meanwhile  one  of  the  relief  party,  crying  like  a  child, 
was  trying  to  roll  away  the  stones  which  held  down  the 
flapping  tent  cloth.  Colwell  (Hit  a  slit  in  the  tent  and 
looked  in. 

"  It  was  a  sight  of  horror,"  says  Schley.  "On  one 
side,  close  to  the  opening,  with  his  head  towards  the  out- 
side, lay  what  was  apparently  a  dead  man.  His  jaw  had 
dropped,  his  eyes  were  open,  but  fixed  and  glassy,  his 
limbs  were  motionless.      On  the  opposite  side  was  a  poor 


500  GENERAL  A.    W.    G HE ELY 

fellow,  alive  to  be  sure,  but  without  hands  or  feet,  and 
with  a  spoon  tied  to  the  stump  of  his  right  arm.  Two 
others,  seated  on  the  ground,  in  the  middle,  had  just  got 
down  a  rubber  bottle  that  hung  on  the  tent-pole,  and 
were  pouring  from  it  into  a  tin  can.  Directly  opposite, 
on  his  hands  and  knees,  was  a  dark  man  with  a  long 
matted  beard,  in  a  dirty  and  tattered  dressing-gown,  with 
a  little  red  skull  cap  on  his  head,  and  brilliant,  staring 
eyes.  As  Col  well  appeared,  he  raised  himself  a  little,  and 
put  on  a  pair  of  eye-glasses." 

"  Who  are  you  ?  "  asked  Colwell. 

The  man  made  no  answer,  staring  at  him  vacantly. 

"  Who  are  you  ?  "  again. 

One  of  the  men  spoke  up  :  "  That's  the  Major  —  Major 
Greely." 

Colwell  crawled  in  and  took  him  by  the  hand,  saying, 
"  Greely,  is  this  you  ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  Greely  in  a  faint,  broken  voice,  hesitat- 
ing and  shuffling  with  his  words  ;  "  Yes,  —  seven  of  us 
left  —  here  we  are  —  dying  —  like  men.  Did  what  I 
came  to  do  —  beat  the  best  record."  Then  he  fell  back 
exhausted. 

Connell  had  almost  ceased  to  breathe.  He  was  speech- 
less, and  his  heart  was  barely  beating.  His  body  was 
cold,  and  all  sensation  was  gone.  When  they  tried  to 
revive  him,  he  managed  to  speak,  "Let  me  die  in 
peace."  Elison,  with  his  hands  and  feet  frozen  off,  had 
lain  helpless  in  his  sleeping-bag  for  seven  months,  kept 
alive  by  the  kindness  of  his  fellows,  who  gladly  allowed 
him  to  have  increased  rations  in  his  pitiable  condition. 

"The  faces  of  two  of  the  men  were  so  swollen,"  says 
Chief  Engineer  George  W.  Melville,  "  that  they  could 
scarcely  see."  He  cleansed  the  eyes  of  one  in  warm  water, 


AND   OTHER  ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  501 

and  bade  him  look  over  towards  the  mast-heads  across  the 
rocks.  Commander  Schley  said,  "  My  man,  don't  yon  see 
the  ships'  masts  ?     Don't  yon  see  the  flags  ?  " 

"Please  lift  me  up  a  little,"  he  urged  huskily,  "that 
I  may  see."  Then  catching  sight  of  the  colors,  he  cried, 
"  Hooray  !  There  is  the  old  flag  again."  Tears  of  joy 
ran  down  his  cheeks,  as  he  was  supported  in  his  sleep- 
ing-bag. 

Greely  was  near  to  death.  He  could  not  stand,  and 
for  some  time  had  not  left  his  sleeping-bag.  No  food 
had  passed  the  lips  of  any  of  them  for  forty-two  hours, 
save  a  little  water  and  a  few  square  inches  of  soaked 
seal-skin. 

Colwell  gave  Greely  and  Elison  a  little  of  the  biscuit 
which  he  had  brought  in  his  pocket.  Then  a  can  of 
pemmican  was  opened,  and  a  little  scraped  off  with  a  knife 
was  fed  to  them  slowly  by  turns.  They  could  not  stand, 
but  had  dropped  on  their  knees,  and  begged  piteously 
for  more.  A  fire  was  made  of  charred  wood  lying  about, 
the  remnants  of  the  boat  which  covered  the  hut,  and  beef 
extract  warmed,  and  given  them  ewr\   tin  minutes. 

The  survivors  could  scarcely  realize  that  they  were 
saved.  Their  minds  were  enfeebled  like  their  bodies. 
"This  seems  so  wonderful,"  said  Greely;  and  when 
told  that  pictures  of  his  wife  and  children  were  on 
board  the  Thetis,  he  added,  "  It  is  so  kind  and  thought- 
ful." The  men  were  carried  on  board  the  boats  on 
stretchers,  as  they  were  unable  to  walk,  and  then  rowed 
out  a  hundred  yards  or  so  to  the  ships.  Greely  fainted 
after  being  taken  on  board,  but  was  revived  by  spirits  of 
ammonia.  Hisclothes  were  carefully  cut  off.  and  heavy 
flannels,  which  had  been  warmed,  were  put  upon  him. 

The  bodies  of  the  ten  dead  on  the  hill  were  dug  up, 


502  GENERAL  A.    W.    GBEELY 

wrapped  in  blankets,  and  carried  tenderly  on  board  the 
ships  for  a  burial  at  their  homes.  The  unburied  bodies 
of  Schneider  and  Henry  were  also  brought ;  but  the  five 
buried  in  the  ice-foot,  as  well  as  the  body  of  Jens,  who 
was  drowned  in  his  kayak,  could  not  of  course  be  recov- 
ered, as  they  were  swept  away  by  the  currents.  Within 
the  tent  near  each  sleeping-bag  were  found  little  pack- 
ages done  up  and  addressed  to  friends  at  home.  The 
survivors  had  also  made  a  like  preparation,  knowing 
that  their  turn  would  soon  come.  The  packages  were 
all  carefully  preserved. 

At  four  o'clock,  June  23,  the  vessels  started  homeward 
with  their  precious  freight.  Elison  died  on  the  journey, 
at  Godhavn,  July  8,  at  three  thirty  a.m.  The  body 
of  Frederick  Christiansen  of  Upernavik  was  buried  at 
Godhavn  at  the  request  of  the  Inspector  of  North 
Greenland. 

The  ships  reached  St.  Johns  July  17.  when  telegrams 
were  sent  immediately  to  Hon.  W.  E.  Chandler,  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy,  by  Commander  Schley,  and  to  Mrs. 
Greely  by  her  husband.  Throngs  of  people  gathered  on 
the  streets  to  welcome  the  heroic  explorers,  and  all  shared 
in  the  feelings  of  Secretary  Chandler,  who  telegraphed 
Commander  Schley  :  "  The  hearts  of  the  American 
people  go  out  with  great  affection  to  Lieutenant  Greely 
and  the  few  survivors  of  his  deadly  peril.  Care  for 
them  unremittingly,  and  bid  them  be  cheerful  and  hope- 
ful on  account  of  what  life  has  in  store  for  them." 

The  six  survivors,  Greely,  Brainard,  Long,  Bierder- 
bick,  Connell,  Frederick  —  Elison  had  died  on  the  passage 
home  —  soon  gained  strength  and  a  return  to  health. 
Lieutenant  Greely  gained  fifty  pounds  in  six  weeks. 

The  relief  ships  received  an  ovation  at  Portsmouth 


AND   OTHER   ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  503 

Harbor,  N.H.  and  then  sailed  for  New  York,  where  the 
bodies  were  formally  delivered  to  General  Hancock, 
representing  the  War  Department.  Two  were  taken  to 
the  Cypress  Hills  National  Cemetery,  Henry  and  Schnei- 
der. The  former  was  buried  there,  and  the  latter  sent 
to  friends  in  Germany. 

The  remains  of  Lockwood  were  forwarded  to  Annapo- 
lis, and  placed  under  a  military  guard  in  the  church  of 
St.  Anne,  where  he  had  been  baptized  and  confirmed. 
He  was  buried  in  the  cemetery  of  the  Naval  Academy. 
A  tablet  was  erected  to  his  memory  in  the  handsome 
army  chapel  at  Fort  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  chiefly  at  the 
expense  of  his  old  regiment.  To  one  of  the  officers, 
General  Lockwood  presented  a  sword  which  had  belonged 
to  his  son. 

Truly  said  his  pastor  in  Georgetown,  "  Most  fittingly 
did  his  brother  explorers  give  his  name  to  this  spot,  the 
farthest  land  north  trod  by  human  foot.  Lockwood 
Island  shall  stand  as  long  as  the  earth  endures,  amid  the 
ample  wastes  and  silence  of  these  mysterious  regions, 
as  the  monument  of  this  brave  young  soldier."  He  died 
as  he  had  lived,  honored  for  his  gentleness,  his  affection- 
ate yet  courageous  heart,  his  unselfishness,  and  his 
nobility  of  soul. 

Not  less  did  Greely  commend  the  heroic  Brainard 
for  his  "  manhood,  courage,  and  self-sacrifice,  displayed 
on  the  Polar  Sea  and  at  Sabine."'  His  name  will  forever 
be  associated  with  Lockwood  in  planting  the  flag,  as  yet, 
farthest  north,  and  in  his  heroic  devotion  to  the  Greely 
party,  which  must  have  perished  save  for  him  and  Fran- 
cis Long. 

The  valuable  scientific  reports,  magnetic,  meteorologic, 
botanic,   and   those   in    natural    history,   of   this    Arctic 


504  GENERAL   A.    W.    GREELY 

expedition,  have  been  transmitted  by  Lieutenant  Greely 
to  the  government,  and  published.  They  were  brought 
on  the  long  and  perilous  journey  from  Conger  to  Sabine, 
and  are  a  lasting  monument  to  the  ability  and  industry 
of  the  Greely  party  and  its  heroic  leader. 

Concerning  this  dreadful  life  in  the  Arctic  regions, 
Lieutenant  Greely  said  at  a  reception  in  New  York  : 

"  I  promised  only  that  I  would  get  to  Sabine,  and  at 
Sabine  I  was  found.  In  regard  to  the  life  that  we  spent 
on  that  barren  rock  —  a  life  which  was  eked  out,  God 
only  knows  how  —  forty  days'  provisions  being  made  to 
last  for  nine  or  ten  months,  with  what  scanty  subsist- 
ence we  could  draw  from  the  surrounding  rocks,  it  was 
a  hell  upon  earth  during  all  the  five  months  of  utter 
darkness. 

"  The  hut  was  so  dark  that  for  a  week  at  a  time, 
although  I  lay  in  a  bag  with  two  men,  so  closely  packed 
that  when  one  man  turned  over  the  others  had  to  turn 
also,  I  was  not  able  to  see  the  face  of  the  man  to  the 
right  or  the  left.  The  only  light  we  had  was  a  wretched 
rag  dipped  in  tallow  oil.  The  walls  were  so  low  that 
when  I  sat  in  my  sleeping-bag  my  head  touched  the 
roof.  The  bags  froze  to  the  ground.  They  were  that 
way  for  five  months.  If  vacated  for  ten  minutes,  they 
froze  stiff  inside.  For  ten  months  we  never  knew  what 
it  was  to  have  our  appetites  satisfied.  Yet  all  that  time, 
with  few  exceptions,  the  men  displayed  such  remarkable 
loyalty,  such  cheerfulness,  and  such  a  law-abiding  spirit, 
that  I  think  better  of  mankind  for  having  lived  with 
those  men  through  that  trouble. 

"  For  two  or  three  months  at  a  time  we  never  knew 
what  it  was  to  have  a  drink  of  water,  except  such  as  we 
could  get  by  putting  snow  and  ice  in  a  rubber  bag  and 


AND    OTHER   ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  505 

thawing  it  with  the  heat  of  our  bodies.  In  that  way  we 
could  get  eight  or  ten  spoonfuls  at  a  time." 

The  whole  country  rejoiced  in  the  rescue  of  Greely 
and  the  five  others  who  were  saved.  The  President  sent 
grateful  words  of  thanks  for  himself  and  the  nation  ;  and 
Queen  Victoria,  who  had  given  the  ship  Alert,  also  sent 
messages  of  sympathy  and  inquiry. 

The  Royal  Geographical  Society  of  London  unani- 
mously awarded  to  Greely  their  highest  honor,  the 
Founders'  Gold  Medal  for  1886,  "  for  having  so  consid- 
erably added  to  our  knowledge  of  the  shores  of  the 
Polar  Sea  and  the  interior  of  Grinnell  Land  ;  the  first, 
through  the  exploration  of  the  late  Lieutenant  Lockwood 
along  the  northern  coast  of  Greenland,  as  far  as  83°  23'  8" 
N.W.,  being  the  nearest  to  the  Pole  ever  attained,  and 
the  second,  by  his  own  explorations  into  the  interior  of 
Grinnell  Land,  together  with  the  journey  across  it  to 
the  Western  Sea,  by  Lieutenant  Look  wood  ;  also  for  his 
admirable  narrative  of  the  expedition  which  he  has  just 
given  to  the  world."' 

This  medal,  publicly  received  by  the  American  minis- 
ter. Mr.  Phelps,  was  officially  transmitted  to  Greely 
through  the  State  and  War  Departments. 

The  same  year,  1886,  Greely  was  awarded  the  Ro- 
quette  Medal  of  Gold  by  the  Geographical  Society  of 
Paris,  forwarded  through  our  minister  to  France. 

His  native  state,  Massachusetts,  also  tendered  him 
through  her  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives, 
"  With  just  pride  in  his  career  and  achievements,"  her 
thanks,  "  as  a  tribute  to  his  patriotism,  courage,  and  loy- 
alty as  shown  in  his  service  as  a  volunteer  soldier;  to 
his  ability  and  zeal  as  a  regular  officer  of  the  United 
States  army,  in   dealing   practically  as  well  as  theoreti- 


506  GENERAL   A.   W.    GREELY 

cally,  both  here  and  in  the  High  North,  with  the  varied 
scientific  questions  arising  in  connection  with  the  sig- 
nal service  ;  to  his  prudence,  patience,  and  enterprise  as 
an  explorer  in  solving  geographical  problems  involving 
the  progress  of  mankind  in  science  and  civilization,  and 
in  thus  advancing  the  name  of  America  to  the  foremost 
rank  in  scientific  Arctic  research ;  and  finally  to  his 
capacity  and  intrepidity  as  a  commander  in  maintaining 
the  courage,  discipline,  and  unity  of  his  command  under 
most  untoward,  prolonged,  and  desperate  circumstances." 

Lieutenant  Greely  was  promoted  to  be  captain  in 
the  5th  U.  S.  Cavalry,  June  11,  1886 ;  and  in  December 
of  the  same  year,  during  the  illness  of  General  W.  B. 
Hazen,  the  duties  of  acting  chief  signal  officer  devolved 
upon  him  by  law  as  the  senior  assistant.  He  was  form- 
ally promoted  to  be  brigadier-general,  and  chief  signal 
officer  of  the  army,  March  3,  1887. 

General  Greely  has  several  times  visited  Europe, 
where  he  has  received  distinguished  courtesies.  He  is  an 
honorary  member  of  several  geographical  and  scientific 
societies,  and  has  just  been  (1893)  elected  one  of  the 
faculty  of  the  Columbian  University  in  charge  of  the 
Department  of  Geography. 

General  Greely  has  written  extensively  on  scientific 
subjects,  the  Isothermal  Lines  of  the  U.  S.  Geography  of 
the  Air,  Rainfall  of  the  Pacific  Slope  and  Western  States 
and  Territories,  American  weather,  with  chapters  on 
Hot  and  Cold  Waves,  Blizzards,  Hailstorms,  etc.,  besides 
various  articles  in  the  Century,  Scribner's,  North  Ameri- 
can Review,  Forum,  Science,  and  other  magazines. 

General  Greely  is  yet  in  middle  life,  under  fifty, 
doing  valuable  work  for  the  country,  and  enjoying  the 
development  in  character  of  his  four  girls  and  two  boys. 


AND   OTHER  ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  507 

Whatever  experiences  are  before  him,  he  can  never  for- 
get the  dreadful  months  at  Cape  Sabine.  His  unselfish 
and  brave  record  is  before  the  world. 

Since  General  Greely's  explorations,  Dr.  Nausen  of 
Norway  made  the  first  crossing  of  Greenland  from  east 
to  west.  He  was  then  a  young  man  only  twenty -seven, 
a  graduate  of  the  University  of  Christiania,  and  curator 
of  the  museum  at  Bergen.  He  started  in  May,  1888,  in 
a  sailing-vessel,  arriving  at  Keykiavik,  the  capital  of 
Iceland.  Here  they  took  passage  in  a  little  steamer, 
landing  on  the  shore  ice  of  Greenland  July  17.  They 
were  taken  out  to  sea  on  an  ice-floe,  but  finally  returned 
and  crossed  Greenland,  reaching  Godthaab  Oct.  3.  For 
three  or  four  weeks  they  were  more  than  nine  thousand 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

"  Our  day's  marches  were,"  says  Dr.  Nausen,  "  as  a 
rule,  short,  and  varied  between  five  and  ten  miles. 
The  reason  of  this  was  the  persistently  heavy  going. 
Had  we  come  earlier  in  the  season,  say  about  midsum- 
mer time,  we  should  have  found  an  excellent  hard  and 
slippery  surface,  such  as  that  we  had  during  the  first 
day  or  two  of  our  ascent.  On  such  a  surface  both  ski 
and  sledges  would  have  run  well,  and  the  crossing  could 
not  have  taken  us  long.  Now,  however,  the  old,  hard- 
frozen  layer  was  covered  with  a  loose  coat  of  freshly- 
fallen  snow,  which  was  as  fine  and  dry  as  dust,  or  else 
packed  by  the  wind  in  drifts,  on  the  cloth-like  surface 
of  which  both  ski  and  sledge  runners  are  very  hard  to 
move." 

When  they  came  within  sight  of  the  western  shore  of 
Greenland,  he  says  :  "  We  were  just  like  children,  as  we 
sat  and  gazed  and  followed  the  lines  of  the  valleys 
downward  in  a  vain  search  for  a  glimpse  of  the  sea.     It 


508  GENERAL  A.    W.    GREELY 

was  a  fine  country  that  lay  before  us,  wild  and  grand  as 
the  western  coast  of  Norway.  Fresh  snow  lay  sprinkled 
about  the  mountain  tops,  between  which  were  deep, 
black  gorges.  At  the  bottom  of  these  were  the  fiords, 
which  we  could  fancy  but  could  not  see. 

"  Words  cannot  describe  what  it  is  for  us  to  have  the 
earth  and  stones  again  beneath  our  feet,  or  the  thrill 
that  went  through  us  as  we  felt  the  elastic  heather  on 
which  we  trod,  and  smelled  the  fragrant  scent  of  grass 
and  moss.  Behind  us  lay  the  '  inland  ice,'  its  cold,  gray 
slope  sinking  slowly  toward  the  lake ;  before  us  lay  the 
genial  land.  Away  down  the  valley  we  could  see  head- 
land beyond  headland,  covering  and  overlapping  each 
other  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach." 

The  last  noted  exploring  expedition  to  the  Arctic 
regions  was  that  under  Civil  Engineer  Robert  E.  Peary, 
U.  S.  K,  in  1891.  On  June  6, 1891,  the  ship  Kite,  under 
Captain  Richard  Pike,  who  had  taken  the  Greely  party 
in  the  Proteus  in  1881  and  the  Grarlington  relief 
party  in  1883,  sailed  for  Greenland.  On  July  24  she 
reached  McCormick  Bay,  where  Peary  established 
his  winter-quarters,  calling  his  little  house  Red  Cliffe 
House,  over  which  his  young  wife,  Mrs.  Josephine 
Diebitsch -Peary,  presided,  sharing  with  him  its  peril  and 
its  loneliness.  Lieutenant  Peary  and  his  single  compan- 
ion, Edward  Astrup,  in  this  exploring  trip  of  thirteen 
hundred  miles,  found  Greenland  to  be  an  island,  whose 
general  northern  contours  lie  south  of  the  eighty-third 
parallel.  Besides  the  settlement  of  this  mooted  question 
about  Greenland,  says  Prof.  Angelo  Heilprin,  in  Scrib- 
ner's  for  Jan.  1893,  the  Peary  expedition  "  has  for- 
ever removed  that  tract  from  a  consideration  of  compli- 
city in  the  main  workings  of  the  Great  Ice  Age.     The 


AND    OTHER   ARCTIC  EXPLORERS.  509 

inland  ice-cap,  which  by  many  has  been  looked  upon  as 
the  lingering  ice  of  the  Glacial  Period,  stretching  far 
into  the  realm  of  the  Pole  itself,  has  been  found  to  ter- 
minate throughout  its  entire  extent  at  approximately  the 
eighty-second  parallel ;  beyond  this  line  follows  a  region 
of  post  glaciation  —  uncovered  to-day,  and  supporting  an 
abundance  of  plant  and  animal  life,  not  different  from 
that  of  the  more  favored  regions  southward.*'  They 
icached  within  one  hundred  miles  of  the  farthest  north 
point  attained  by  Lockwood  and  Brainard,  and  went  two 
hundred  miles  on  the  north-eastern  coast  farther  than 
any  other  human  being  ever  attained.  Most  of  the 
journey  was  on  ice  eight  thousand  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea. 

The  only  unfortunate  thing  in  connection  Avith  this 
expedition  was  the  disappearance  of  the  meteorologist 
and  mineralogist  of  the  North  Greenland  party,  Mr. 
John  T.  Verhoeff.  He  was  last  seen  on  the  morning  of 
Aug.  11,  1892,  when  he  stated  his  intention  of  visiting 
the  Eskimo  settlement  of  Kukan,  across  McCormick 
Bay.  Not  returning,  a  large  party  searched  for  him  for 
seven  days  and  nights.  His  footprints  and  some  bits 
of  paper  were  discovered  near  a  rifted  glacier  now  called 
the  Verhoeff  glacier,  and  it  is  probable  that  he  was  lost 
in  some  crevasse.  Some  of  his  friends  still  hope  that 
he  is  alive. 


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